Mystery Islands
by gladrags2012
Summary: Rose, Carrie and Oscar are sent to investigate a possible chemical weapon test in some remote islands off the coast of Norway. They are joined by an old friend. Will their enemies be new or old ones ? Rated T just in case. Some action.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters I have borrowed from M. . I do own Illya and Aggie Madison. This story follows on from "Spy School"._

Oscar was back at school after his sick absence. As far as the school was concerned he had had an accident during an adventure training course and hit his head. Today he was in the school canteen trying to eat something brown. A few weeks ago, he would have eaten anything on a plate, but now that there was someone at home who could cook, it was getting harder to stomach the awful slop produced by the school cook. Maybe he should start bringing in sandwiches.

Rose and Carrie came over with their trays. Rose had sensibly chosen a salad. No cooking required there. Carrie had picked the same brown sludge as him. "Can you remember what this was called ?" asked Oscar, poking the stuff with his fork.

"Yeah. It was spicy mince," said Carrie.

"Minced what ?" asked Oscar.

"Ooh, who got fussy all of a sudden then ?" teased Carrie. "Sounds like someone is getting his dinners cooked for him now."

"Aggie's a really good cook," agreed Oscar. He gave up on the brown sludge and put his fork back down.

Carrie shrugged, picked up her fork and took a mouthful. She moved it around her mouth and then stopped. "Mmm," she said, putting her hand over her mouth. She put her fork down and struggled to swallow the food. Then she drank all of her water. "That was revolting. What do you think it was ?"

"Roadkill ?" suggested Oscar.

"Oscar !" complained Rose. "Some of us are trying to eat around here you know !"

"Well, what do you think we were trying to do ?" complained Carrie. "Should have picked the salad. I'm bringing a sandwich tomorrow, definitely." It was then that their communicators started to flash.

Down in HQ they gathered expectantly around Frank in front of the screens. "Ah team. We've got a new mission," he said turning to the screens and typing some commands into the computer. "These, are the Skolsgard Islands off the coast of Norway, up in the Arctic Circle," he said pulling up a satellite image of a group of small islands. "Recently there were a series of incidents on the islands. The Norwegian government became concerned after communications were lost with the inhabitants. When they went to investigate they found the people in the town on the main island running wild, smashing up the town or hiding in their houses, suffering from hallucinations. They were unable to find any obvious natural causes. We suspect that someone may have been testing a new chemical weapon on the remote population of the islands.

"Is everyone there alright now ?" asked Rose concerned.

"Yes, thankfully everyone recovered within a day, but there were a lot of minor injuries due to fighting and broken glass etc." reported Frank. "If it happened again there could easily be deaths and goodness knows what would happen in a more densely populated area. We have to find out who is carrying out these tests and stop them."

"Why us ?" asked Carrie. "Don't the Norwegians want to find out for themselves.

"Of course they do," agreed Frank. "However, there were reports of strangers on the islands earlier who were speaking English. The Norwegian government have asked our government to investigate. Hence our mission."

"It's not just that," pointed out Carrie. "Oscar might blend in, but I don't look very Norwegian do I ?"

"That's not going to be a problem," explained Frank. "There is a small science station on one of the islands which is used by visiting groups studying the wildlife. You are going to be that group for the next couple of weeks."

"Cool," said Carrie. "How are we going to get there then ?"

"You are going to go by submarine," said Frank. The science station's boathouse has been converted to allow the mini-submarine to dock in secret. Turning to Oscar he said, "Oscar, can you still remember how to operate the mini-sub ?"

Oscar screwed up his face slightly. "I could do with a refresher course," he said.

Rose rolled her eyes upwards. "I suppose that means Oscar is Captain again," she groaned.

"Only of the submarine," said Frank. "Since this is probably a science based mission, I'm putting you in charge of identifying and eliminating the chemical weapon, if there is one of course. Carrie's physical skills are going to come in very useful due to the terrain of the islands. You are going to need to take climbing equipment. How's your Norwegian Oscar ?"

Oscar pulled another face. "It's pretty rusty. It's not one of my main languages," he said. "I'm going to have to do some serious revision if we're relying on my language skills," he added.

"That's what I guessed," said Frank, smiling. "There isn't going to be time for that. Not to worry. We're sending you with one of our probationary agents who has excellent Norwegian. Come in Agent," he called to the side of the basement. Out of the shadows walked Oscar's new friend Illya.

"Illya !" Oscar grinned. "I didn't know you spoke Norwegian."

"You never asked," replied Illya, grinning.

"Illya has completed his MI9 training in record time," said Frank, sounding impressed.

"Well, I have done most of it before," explained Illya. "But you can think I'm great if you like !" he laughed.

"Right, you're leaving tonight," said Frank briskly. "Plenty of time to catch up on your journey. Oscar I need you to come with me for a refresher on the mini-sub. Everyone else, I want you to gather any information you need on the islands, your cover activities and decide what equipment you are going to need. Any questions ? No ? Good. Get started !"


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters I have borrowed from M. . I do own Illya and Aggie Madison. This story follows on from "Spy School".

"_Right, you're leaving tonight," said Frank briskly. "Plenty of time to catch up on your journey. Oscar I need you to come with me for a refresher on the mini-sub. Everyone else, I want you to gather any information you need on the islands, your cover activities and decide what equipment you are going to need. Any questions ? No ? Good. Get started !"_

Oscar wearily turned the key to his guardian's house after Frank dropped him off. His head was spinning from the quantity of information he'd just had to absorb. He only had an hour to gather whatever he needed from home. He hoped Aggie had cooked dinner because he was starving after eating nothing for lunch. The wonderful smell filling the hall answered that question straight away.

Illya stuck his head round the kitchen door. "Yes, he's here," he called back into the kitchen.

"Tell him to get ready for dinner then," called another voice from the kitchen.

"I'm on it," called Oscar, carrying his school bag up to his room. He got changed, washed and went back downstairs.

Aggie served up a delicious dinner and he sat with her and Illya, demolishing the food in front of him.

"Well, someone was hungry," laughed Aggie. "What are they feeding you at school ?"

"Hard to tell," said Oscar.

"It can't be that bad surely," laughed Aggie.

"If you were the school cook, I'd eat the canteen bare," said Oscar. Aggie laughed again, but she looked quite pleased. They helped tidy up and then Aggie suggested Oscar had better get his things together. Oscar went up to his room and hunted out some Norwegian language books. It wouldn't hurt to get a little revision in, just in case. Aggie had bought him some new clothes so he had a few more things to pack than usual. When he came back down with his rucksack, Illya was already waiting with his. To Oscar's huge embarrassment Aggie gave him a big kiss on the cheek. Illya was laughing at Oscar's red face when he also got a big kiss.

"Right, be careful you two. I want you both back safe and sound," ordered Aggie.

"We'll be fine," said Illya. "And you, no talking to strange men," he wagged his finger at Aggie, who laughed.

At that point their car arrived which took them off to the rendezvous point. Oscar sat silently in the back of the car, running through all the instructions for the mini-sub in his head. Illya sat back and dozed.

It took a couple of hours to reach the docks where the mini-sub was housed. Carrie and Rose were already there, checking through all of the equipment they were taking. Oscar looked at the mounds of stuff with some concern. "Isn't this going to overload the sub ?" he asked Frank.

Frank looked up from what he was doing. "No it should still be within safe limits," he said. "I've checked the weight. It is going to affect the handling though so you had better take it carefully when you leave the dock." Fortunately they didn't have to load all the gear themselves. A team of support staff did that for them. Oscar went down into the sub to check out all the controls and carry out the pre-running safety checks.

After a few more instructions from Frank, they eventually boarded the sub and the hatch was sealed. Oscar looked round at the piles of equipment and cases. "I don't know where you're all going to sit," he said. He was sitting in the only chair by the controls. "Carrie, would you mind operating the periscope while we leave the dock please ?"

"Sure. No problem," said Carrie, quite please to have something to do.

Oscar managed to navigate the sub safely out of the dock and then the harbour. Rose completed the last communications with base and then they dived and set off into deeper waters.

Oscar looked round from his navigation screens at the others. "You might as well settle down and have a sleep," he suggested. "It's going to take us at least 7 hours at full speed to get to Norway. There's no point in us all arriving tired." The others agreed and made the best use they could of their bags and clothes to find a reasonably comfortable position to sleep. Oscar settled himself in front of the controls for what was going to be a long night.

Carrie woke to find her arm had gone completely numb. She massaged it and checked her watch. They were about five hours into their journey. Oscar was hunched up, alone in front of the screens. All the other lights in the sub were turned off. Stepping carefully over Rose, and avoiding Illya's feet she walked quietly up to Oscar. "Hey," she whispered. "Are we there yet ?" Oscar turned and saw her smile.

"Not too far now," he said. He sounded tired and his eyes were red. "Did you manage to get some sleep ?"

"Yes, not too bad," said Carrie. "I can sleep anywhere. How are you doing ? Do you want me to get you a drink or something ?"

"Yes please," said Oscar gratefully. "Something that'll keep me awake."

Carrie got to work. Keeping Oscar awake was definitely a priority right now. She made them both a hot drink and carried a case over to sit next to him. "What's your new housekeeper like then ?" she asked. "She's obviously a better cook than you."

Oscar had to smile. "She's nice," he said. Carrie waited. That was it. She guessed the new housekeeper hadn't made Oscar any more talkative. He certainly seemed a lot happier though and he also seemed to look a lot healthier. Well, he didn't look too happy at the moment but then she guessed he was having to concentrate. He seemed to be finding this sub journey harder than the last one.

"Oscar, can't you relax a bit," Carrie suggested. "You've driven this thing before and you were absolutely fine with it then."

"Yes, but we didn't have to travel so far last time. These shipping lanes are really busy so I've had to go deeper and there are lots of underwater obstacles so I'm having to navigate really carefully," explained Oscar.

"At least nobody is dropping depth charges this time," said Carrie.

"No, that is one big improvement," smiled Oscar tiredly.

They sat together drinking and chatting about nothing in particular for another hour. Eventually, Rose and Illya also woke up and joined them. At last, Oscar announced that they were within a kilometre of their base for the mission. They surfaced and Carrie used the periscope to look at the landmarks and help Oscar find the right route to take the sub to land. They were all a little worried because Oscar was now exhausted and struggling to concentrate. He took two attempts to get the sub into the boat shed because the water was much shallower there. Finally they had arrived and started unloading equipment while Oscar closed down the mini-sub's systems safely.

There was a log cabin next to the boat shed, slightly further up on the side of a steep hill. Carrie unlocked the cabin door and checked out the facilities. They'd been told to take sleeping bags but she was pleased to find the beds had decent mattresses and pillows. There were two small rooms with two single beds each. She went back down to the boat shed.

"Oscar, get your gear and I'll take you back to the cabin. There's a bed with your name on it. You have a sleep and we'll get all the gear in." Oscar started to protest, but Illya picked up Oscar's things and pushed him to the ladder.

"You heard the lady," he instructed. "Get up there."

Oscar gave in and followed Carrie to the cabin. Illya unpacked his sleeping bag for him and found some bed clothes. After Oscar changed, he climbed into his sleeping bag. Illya drew the curtains and then closed the door on the already sleeping Oscar.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters I have borrowed from M. . I do own Illya and Aggie Madison. This story follows on from "Spy School".

_Oscar gave in and followed Carrie to the cabin. Illya unpacked his sleeping bag for him and found some bed clothes. After Oscar changed, he climbed into his sleeping bag. Illya drew the curtains and then closed the door on the already sleeping Oscar._

The cabin had already been stocked up with their food supplies for the duration. Carrie offered to make breakfast while the other two started unloading the sub. After breakfast the three of them brought the rest of the equipment up into the cabin. Rose set up the secure communications equipment and radioed back to base to update them on their arrival. Frank was obviously relieved that they had made it safely.

The three of them then spent the next couple of hours opening cases of equipment and checking what they had. Illya suggested putting labels on the boxes to save time looking for things later. Rose thought this was an excellent idea although Carrie groaned. They were in the middle of doing the labelling when Oscar made an appearance, still looking a little groggy.

"You can sleep a bit longer if you want to Oscar," suggested Rose.

"No, I might as well get some sleep tonight," said Oscar rubbing his eyes. "Have I missed anything ?"

"We are nearly ready to start," said Illya. He couldn't help noticing how the two girls always took care of Oscar. It was making him a little bit jealous. Still, they had been together as a team for a long time so he should expect them to look after one another.

Oscar frowned at one of the box labels. "Little tiny boxes and stuff ?" he said puzzled. "What's that for ?" Illya and Rose looked at one another and then both looked accusingly at Carrie who was trying to look innocent.

"Yeah, well that's what's inside isn't it ?" she said.

"Carrie, you need to check the contents. They've all got little tiny boxes and stuff," complained Rose. Illya was now laughing.

"If I ever need some little tiny boxes, I know where to look," said Illya.

Oscar held out his hand for Carrie's pen. "Would you like me to do some ?" he asked. "I'm starving. Would you mind making us some food Carrie ?" Carrie agreed that this was a fair trade. Cooking was no trouble because they had been left a large range of ready prepared meals. She didn't have to do much more than warm them up. In any case it was better than writing little labels on boxes.

The food was ready by the time the other three had labelled up all the crates and cases. They also had time to put away their own personal stuff in their rooms. While they ate they discussed their tactics for beginning the operation. Carrie was in favour of waiting until it got dark before going out to survey their surroundings using the night vision goggles. Rose pointed out that it was probably never going to get dark because it was summer in the Arctic Circle and the sun would never set. The others hadn't thought of this.

"There's not going to be any sneaking around in the dark then," commented Oscar, while they were all taking this in. "We're going to have to be careful about keeping our cover as naturalists."

"That's OK," pointed out Illya. "These animal people are always wandering around staring at stuff with binoculars. We are going to look just right aren't we." The others cautiously nodded. "Lets clear up and go and have a look round," suggested Illya. "It will give us more ideas, yes ?" They agreed and after ten minutes set off to have a look round.

It soon became obvious that getting around was not a simple matter on these islands. The only place in easy reach by walking from the cabin was the boathouse and the top of the hill behind the hut. On the other side of the hill was a huge cliff dropping straight down to the sea. They did get a good view from there though. They could clearly see another three islands within a fairly short distance over water and a distant view of several others. The nearest island appeared to be the biggest and had a small town opposite them with a small harbour filled with fishing boats.

"We're going to have to go everywhere by boat," said Rose.

"That's OK. There are two small motor boats in the boathouse," said Illya. "We can use those."

"I know," said Carrie. "There's two boats right ? So why don't we split into pairs and go round each of the islands. We can film what we see if there is anything interesting. It will look quite normal to anyone watching and we'll get an idea what might be out there. What do you think ?" The others agreed this would be a good start. Oscar would go with Carrie and Illya with Rose. They went over their maps and split the islands between them. Each pair would sail round three islands each marking up a map with anything interesting and return to base when they'd finished.

They took to their boats and it took nearly two and a half hours to complete their tours of all the islands. When Oscar and Carrie were mooring their boat again in the boathouse, Oscar was starting to yawn. It was still very light even though it was now quite late in the evening. "It's weird how it's not getting dark isn't it ?" asked Carrie.

"Yes. It is really odd," agreed Oscar.

"Must be your perfect place to live Oscar," said Carrie jokingly.

"You mean because it's never dark ?" asked Oscar resigned to the teasing. "Don't forget that it is dark all day in the winter time."

"Oh yeah. I forgot about that," said Carrie.

Illya and Rose had already returned and were going through all the information they had collected. Oscar couldn't help thinking that they seemed very comfortable with each other. He felt a moment's jealousy and then mentally kicked himself. Idiot. He liked Illya so why shouldn't Rose and Carrie. He was a good friend.

The four of them compared notes. There was the one larger town on the opposite island, some tiny settlements on the other islands, some harbours and a couple of caves visible from the sea around the coast from the town. Otherwise, nobody had noticed anything interesting.

"Tomorrow then, someone will need to visit the town and try to find out something about the chemical weapon event," said Rose.

"That is great. I can go shopping," said Illya. "Rose, do you want to come with me ?" he asked. "You can take some samples for chemicals maybe."

"Yes, that's a good idea," agreed Rose.

"Well, why don't me and Oscar go and look at those caves then," suggested Carrie.

The plan for the next day agreed they split for their rooms. Rose gathered some equipment for the next day. She liked to be prepared. Carrie spent a few minutes looking over the maps again. She wasn't really as absent minded as she sometimes gave the impression. She wanted to memorise any possibly useful features before they set off. Illya came back from the bathroom to find Oscar with his nose in a Norwegian language book. Literally. Oscar had obviously been sitting reading the book when he had gone to sleep and fallen face first into the book. Illya couldn't help laughing at his friend. Carefully he removed the book and lifted Oscar back on to his pillow. Oscar mumbled something and curled up in his sleeping bag.

Illya climbed into his own bed and turned off the light. It was odd working with people his own age. He had always worked with adults much more experienced than himself who controlled what he could and couldn't do. These three worked together really well though. He still felt like the outsider, but he was starting to feel at home more now. As his eyes adjusted to the semi-darkness, he could see that there was still light coming through the gaps in the blackout curtains. He could see Oscar's hair glowing in the soft light.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters I have borrowed from M. . I do own Illya and Aggie Madison. The spies get to work.

_Illya climbed into his own bed and turned off the light. It was odd working with people his own age. He had always worked with adults much more experienced than himself who controlled what he could and couldn't do. These three worked together really well though. He still felt like the outsider, but he was starting to feel at home more now. As his eyes adjusted to the semi-darkness, he could see that there was still light coming through the gaps in the blackout curtains. He could see Oscar's hair glowing in the soft light. _

Oscar and Carrie set off straight after breakfast. Illya and Rose waited a little longer. They wanted to be sure there would be people up and around when they arrived in the town. They moored their boat in the small harbour. Immediately they drew attention to themselves. A man came up and spoke to them. Illya answered in Norwegian. This seemed to satisfy the man who directed them up the small road into the village.

"What did he say ?" asked Rose.

"He just wanted to know what we were doing here," explained Illya. "I told him we were from the conservation survey on the small island. I asked him if he could direct us to the local shop because we needed a few things. He seemed happy enough."

They drew a few more glances as they made their way through the village. Illya greeted people and repeated his request for directions to the shop. They weren't really necessary because there was only one shop and it had piles of goods stacked outside. Illya suggested Rose have a mooch around the shop while he opened up a conversation with the owner. She took a small scanning device from her pocket and hiding it in her sleeve started to scan around the shop for traces of any unusual chemicals. Unfortunately there were lots of chemicals present. The shop sold everything from vinegar to paraffin fuel for stoves.

Rose noticed that Illya had bought a few items and was already laughing and joking with the woman who was running the shop. He was a real charmer, she thought. He was a lot easier to talk to than Oscar, that was for sure. Although, when she thought about it, she didn't know anything about him. Maybe he was just better at hiding things. She noticed that their conversation seemed to have changed. The woman was now leaning across the counter to Illya and pointing out of the window. She became quite animated, waving her arms, and was obviously distressed about something. Illya seemed to be expressing sympathy and concern. Rose wished she could understand what was going on. At least for once, Oscar the language expert, wasn't any better off either.

Rose decided she wasn't going to find anything else in the shop so told Illya she would wait outside for him. Once outside she sat down on a barrel and put her small scanner back in her rucksack. She took out the spy-pod and keeping it hidden inside the bag, started a wider range scan of the local area. She was getting a strange, scattered response from all round her. She decided to home in on one of them and went up a narrow track between two houses. After a little searching, she found a small metal box. The box was roughly the size of her hand. It was empty and missing its lid, if it ever had one. She put it in a sealed plastic bag and put it in her rucksack. Then she tracked down another of the signal responses. This led her to an identical metal box. Again she bagged and stored it in her rucksack. This empty box was near the main road running through the village. She stored and plotted the locations of all the other signals. They were scattered throughout the community. These had to have something to do with the strange event the previous week.

At this point, Illya emerged from the shop carrying a large plastic bag and a fishing rod and wearing a big smile. Rose couldn't help but smile back. It was a very infectious smile.

"You going fishing ?" she asked.

"You never know what I might catch," said Illya. "Did you find anything ?"

"Yes. I'll show you when we get back. I need to analyse it," said Rose. "What did you find out ?"

"Well, the lady in the shop said that she was working inside one day because it was cold and misty outside when she heard shouting and screaming. A man from the village ran past the window yelling and throwing stones down the road. She looked and there was nothing there. Then a woman neighbour came into her shop screaming that they were all going to be killed and hid behind her shop counter and refused to come out. She saw some people fighting each other and another man smashing a barrel full of pickled herring to pieces shouting that dragons were hiding inside it," said Illya. "She locked her doors and stayed inside."

"She has a radio telephone in her shop and she tried to use it to call the mainland for help," he continued, "but the phone was dead. It was a whole day later that the police and some medical people arrived. By then nearly everyone had calmed down and gone home. They told her that there must have been a mass outbreak of food poisoning or something. They thought it might be ergot poisoning from eating mouldy bread. She was very cross because they took away all of her bread flour. She said there was nothing wrong with the bread flour. She's convinced it had something to do with the English-speaking strangers they'd seen in town the previous day. Although her main reason for distrusting them seems to be that they didn't buy anything in her shop."

"Wow, that must have been a terrifying experience," said Rose. "She wasn't affected though ?"

"No, apparently not," said Illya.

"She stayed inside all the time though. So whatever was released, must have been outdoors. That makes sense," said Rose. "Come on ! We've got some work to do."

The two returned directly to base and got to work setting up Rose's laboratory. While Rose got to work analysing the metal boxes for chemical traces, Illya called up Frank to update him on progress. Frank was pleased with what they'd managed to find out so far. He was also doubtful about the ergot poisoning theory and was interested to hear Rose's theory about a chemical release outside. He told them to update him as soon as they had more information.

Oscar and Carrie took their boat early that morning to the place where they had seen the cave entrances. Carrie had memorised the best route. Unfortunately the rocks were too steep there to moor their boat, so they had to circle further around the island before they could find anywhere safe to land and tie up the boat. Oscar spent a while finding some rocks above the high tide mark where he could fix the ropes. Carrie was getting bored.

"Does it really matter where you tie it up ?" she asked. "There are plenty of rocks further down that would be fine to tie up on."

"There's no point tying the boat to a rock that's going to be under water when we get back is there ?" asked Oscar pointedly. "The water is freezing and I'm not planning on jumping in to get the boat out when we come back."

"I don't know. Are we going to be that long ?" asked Carrie.

"I have no idea. Do you ?" responded Oscar.

"OK. You have a point," agreed Carrie. She decided to start searching out a route along the shore to the cave entrance. It looked pretty tricky. In fact it was treacherous. They ended up using the climbing equipment, knocking metal hooks into the cliff face and attaching ropes to climb across some deep gullies into the sea. Huge waves swelled up underneath them as they slowly worked their way across the rocks. It took a couple of hours to make it round to the entrance. Here the rocks were wet and slimy.

"OK. If anyone is using this as a secret entrance they deserve a medal," said Carrie, frustrated and tired. Her hands and clothes were coated in green slime off the rocks. Oscar had even managed to get it in his hair. "How do you always manage to get messier than everyone else ?" she asked him, half teasing.

"It's just natural talent," said Oscar, pulling some green stuff out of his hair. He and Carrie couldn't help laughing. "Come on, let's make it worth while," he added. He had one coil of rope left from their climbing. "Why don't we rope ourselves together. Once we're in the cave we have no idea what we're going to encounter."

"OK. It's probably a good idea. If you get scared of the dark, you can always hang onto me," joked Carrie.

"Very funny !" complained Oscar, attaching the rope to the latches on their belts. "Come on, let's get it over with."

Slipping and sliding, they made their way carefully over the rocks into the cave entrance. It appeared that the cave stayed about the high water mark, because it was dry inside and there was no seaweed. They didn't want to get trapped in the cave by a rising tide. They both switched on their head torches. Carrie offered to go first and Oscar made no complaint. They walked slowly to make sure where they were stepping. The cave was very high and wide to start with, like a church. It gradually got narrower and turning a corner, also darker. Carrie was moving more quickly than Oscar as she seemed better able to keep her footing on the jagged and uneven floor.

"Slow down a bit Carrie," said Oscar. "You're getting too far ahead of me."

"It's alright Oscar," said Carrie. Her torch shone into Oscar's face as she turned towards him. "We're not going to faaaa," she screamed. Oscar felt the rope rushing through his hands and braced himself against the rocks to his side as he gripped as tightly as he could on the rope. The rope burned his hands and he hissed at the pain.

"Carrie, Carrie, are you alright ?" he called in a panic.

"It's OK. I'm fine," came her answer. Her voice sounded distant and echoey. "I'll need some help to get up. I've fallen down a hole. I'll get a grip on the wall. Can you take up the slack for me ?"

"OK," said Oscar, wrapping the rope around his hands. He felt the weight on the rope lessen and he pulled up on the slack, taking the opportunity to wrap the rope around his waist for extra support and getting his feet more firmly wedged in some rocks. "Start climbing. I've got you," he instructed.

Carrie struggled to find hand and toe holds on the rock. It was fairly dry, but cold to the touch. After what seemed an eternity she finally got one arm over the edge of the drop she had fallen into. Oscar kept hold of the rope but walked forward and grabbed Carrie's hand, helping her out of the hole. They were both breathing heavily. Carrie leaned against the cave wall trying to catch her breath. Oscar suddenly grabbed her and hugged her tight.

"Carrie, don't ever, ever do that again please," he begged.

"I'll try not to," she replied with a muffled voice because her face was buried in Oscar's chest. Quite a nice feeling actually. He was very strong although he looked quite lanky. She was sorry when he finally set her back on her feet. She turned her head so she could use the torch to find the edge of the drop again. They both leaned forward and peered down. They couldn't see the bottom. Carrie shuddered, realising what a near miss she had had.

There was a narrow path which passed to the right of the hole. They carefully made their way past the hole and turned a corner. "Look !" said Oscar. There was a metal door set into the wall of the cave. They went up to the door and searched around for handles or levers. They couldn't find anything. Oscar pulled his spy-pod out of his rucksack and scanned the door and around it. "Nothing," he said frustrated. "The door looks as if it's been welded shut and there's no mechanism to open it. Dead end."

Disappointed, the two returned the way they had come. When they reached the entrance the tide had risen a little. They made their way carefully back along the cliff. This time some waves reached as high as their boots. Carrie was glad Oscar had made such a fuss over tying up the boat. The boat was still securely tied and they gratefully got into it tired, but safe.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters I have borrowed from M. . I do own Illya and Aggie Madison.

_Disappointed, the two returned the way they had come. When they reached the entrance the tide had risen a little. They made their way carefully back along the cliff. This time some waves reached as high as their boots. Carrie was glad Oscar had made such a fuss over tying up the boat. The boat was still securely tied and they gratefully got into it tired, but safe._

Oscar refuelled the tank of their petrol engine when they got back. He didn't want to have to do it before they left for anywhere, in case they were in a hurry. When he and Carrie walked through the door of the cabin, the other two looked round in shock. "What on earth happened to you two ?" asked Rose.

Oscar looked up from where he was trying to pull off his soaking boots and glanced over at Carrie. She was covered in dirt and green slime. He glanced down at himself and he too was filthy. Carrie was looking at him and trying not to laugh. "I've still got weed in my hair haven't I ?" he asked.

"Yes. Sorry," she said. He just shrugged. "We searched one of the sea caves," explained Carrie. "We did find an old metal door set into the cave wall, but I think it must have been sealed shut. There's no way anyone is using that as a regular route for smuggling or anything else."

"Carrie's right," agreed Oscar. "It looked like it had been welded shut. I scanned the area but the scan wouldn't penetrate the rock or the metal and there were no handles or opening mechanisms nearby." He waved his hands and Carrie noticed the red burn marks on them.

"What happened to your hands ?" she asked.

"Oh, rope burn I think," said Oscar.

"Do you want some ointment or something on them ?" asked Carrie, concerned and feeling a little guilty.

"I think I'll have a shower first," said Oscar. "Do you want to go first ?"

Carrie had a shower, followed by Oscar and they both changed into clean clothes. Oscar put both their pairs of boots in front of the heater to dry off. Carrie's arms were aching from all the climbing. The two of them collapsed onto the sofa in front of the heater looking exhausted. Illya took pity on them and left Rose's workbench to go and prepare some food. They were all hungry by the time it was ready and everyone sat together to eat.

Illya told Oscar and Carrie what they had found out in the town. Rose had done a lot of work on the metal boxes. "There is a trace of some compound on the metal," she said. "They've obviously been out in all weathers for a week so there is very little left. I haven't managed to find enough to analyse ," she said, frustrated.

"We could go back tomorrow and try to find some more," suggested Carrie. "There might be one which was left in a more sheltered place perhaps."

"It's a possibility," said Rose, "Although we are going to look pretty odd wandering around town searching the ground. It's going to be hard keeping up our cover if we do that. I'd like to do a bit more analysis on what we have too."

Rose called Frank on the radio and updated him with what the others had found and what little information she had found from the metal boxes. Frank suggested they relax for the evening and see what the weather was like in the morning. He had checked the forecast and thought there would be a sea mist in their area in the morning. This might provide a good cover for snooping around the town.

Afterwards, Rose returned to her analysis of the boxes. Carrie insisted on putting some ointment on Oscar's hands.

"How did that happen ?" asked Illya.

"Oh, Carrie fell down a massive shaft in the cave," explained Oscar holding out his hands for Carrie to rub on the ointment. "We'd roped ourselves together luckily, but the rope burnt my hands a bit before I could stop her falling." The ointment felt nice and cooling on his hands. "Thanks Carrie," he said.

Illya looked at them both. Oscar had explained Carrie nearly being killed like it was an everyday experience. Carried didn't seem at all bothered. She was now putting the top back on the ointment and putting it back in the first aid box. He really envied the way they were such a tight little unit. He wished he had friends like them to work with. Maybe if he saved their lives a few times, he too would be part of the team.

Oscar sat down to read his Norwegian books. "Do you have to do that ?" asked Carrie. "Illya speaks Norwegian so you don't have to."

"It might come in useful," said Oscar defensively. He hated not knowing the language of any place they went to. It made him feel strangely helpless and out of control. Knowing the language made him feel safer somehow.

Sighing, Carrie asked Illya if he would like to play cards. Please to be asked, Illya agreed. They occupied themselves for a couple of hours and then went to bed.

The next morning was foggy and the forecast was for even denser fog. This looked like the perfect opportunity to explore the town unseen and search for more of the metal boxes. Rose decided to stay at base and continue with her analysis. The other three got into the first boat and set off for the town. "Why don't I go and search up the hill," suggested Illya. "I know the way and people have seen me around before. I won't attract so much attention. You two could concentrate on the harbour area. If anyone is coming in and out, they must be using the harbour. There's no other way in or out."

The others agreed this was a good plan. After mooring their boat at one far end of the harbour, Illya set off up the hill and Oscar and Carrie started searching around the harbour. It appeared to be deserted. It looked like nobody went fishing when there was a sea fog. They tried to open some of the doors of the buildings, but they were all locked tight. The fog was getting steadily thicker and so the light was getting much dimmer.

"I'll have a look down the jetty," whispered Oscar in Carrie's ear. It tickled and she giggled. "What's funny ?" asked Oscar annoyed.

"Sorry, that tickled," explained Carrie. Oscar just frowned and then disappeared into the mist. The mist was starting to make Carrie nervous. It seemed to deaden all the sounds as well. It was as if she was completely on her own in the whole world. "Don't spook yourself. This is not the time to freak out," Carrie whispered to herself. "No. Now I'm talking to myself. This is getting seriously crazy," she told herself. Then she froze when she heard footsteps approaching along the harbour wall. It was impossible to tell how far away they were. They were deadened by the constantly thickening fog.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters I have borrowed from M. . I do own Illya and Aggie Madison.

"_Sorry, that tickled," explained Carrie. Oscar just frowned and then disappeared into the mist. The mist was starting to make Carrie nervous. It seemed to deaden all the sounds as well. It was as if she was completely on her own in the whole world. "Don't spook yourself. This is not the time to freak out," Carrie whispered to herself. "No. Now I'm talking to myself. This is getting seriously crazy," she told herself. Then she froze when she heard footsteps approaching. It was impossible to tell how far away they were. They were deadened by the constantly thickening fog._

Desperately she looked around for somewhere to hide. She slipped between some large packing crates and ducked down. The footsteps were getting really close. It was too late to warn Oscar. She hoped he had heard the footsteps and found somewhere to hide. There wasn't much on the jetty if he was still out there. She thought she heard a gentle splash in the water. Seriously, Oscar hadn't decided to jump in had he ? Maybe that was the only place he could find to hide. That water must be freezing ! Carrie shivered just thinking about it.

Her worries got a lot more personal just then as she saw the shape of a man standing in front of her. She was peering through the gap between the crates. He had to be pretty tall because she could see him even over the tops of the crates. That had to mean that he would be able to see her too. As quietly as she could, Carrie sank flat down to the ground. It was cold and damp, but that had to be better than being caught snooping around the harbour.

As she lay down, she couldn't believe her luck. The crates were sitting on top of pallets. Hidden under one of the pallets was one of those little metal boxes Rose had collected, only this one still had a lid on it. Now was probably not the best time to be scrabbling around on the ground. She waited. The man walked away from her position and out towards the jetty. Please let Oscar have found a good hiding place she hoped. The sound of the footsteps changed as the man stepped onto the wooden jetty. It creaked and groaned as he walked along. Oscar hadn't made any noise when he walked along it. This guy must be the size of a gorilla.

The man stopped walking and shuffled about. She guessed he must be looking about on the jetty. Apparently satisfied, he returned towards her, then stood silently on the harbour wall off to her right. After a short while he set off walking away down the harbour. She heard the sound of a heavy door opening and closing. Carrie let out a huge sigh of relief. Then she reached out and grasped the metal box. She could hardly see it in the misty gloom. She put it safely away in her backpack. Carefully she edged out of her hiding place, checking that there was definitely nobody around. The coast seemed to be clear.

Carrie set out towards the jetty. At least, she tried to. She nearly walked off the edge of the harbour wall by mistake. She gasped and pulled herself back at the last second. She could only just see her feet. Carefully, she moved along the edge of the wall until she reached the wood of the jetty. There was a sound of something flopping about in the water ahead. Maybe Oscar was coming out of hiding. Working her way along the jetty slowly and carefully, she finally reached a hand flapping about on the woodwork. It was Oscar's. She looked over the edge and found Oscar. He was trying to pull himself up on the slippery wood, but couldn't get any grip.

"Ca, Ca, Carrrrr," he whispered. "Ppppp, please he, he, hel." Carrie realised he had to be frozen after being in the water for so long. She grabbed his hand and was shocked to find it white and freezing to her hands. She pulled but could not get a grip on the slippery wood and ended up falling on her backside, letting go of his hand. Consequently Oscar slipped straight back in, his head going under the water. He came back up gasping frantically for air. She had to get him out of there quickly, or he wouldn't have the strength to pull himself up. He was too heavy for her alone.

Thinking quickly, she hooked her right knee around a bollard on the jetty. She then reached over and grabbed one of Oscar's hands. She pulled him half out, up to his chest on the woodwork and hooked his arm around a rope holding one of the small boats. He managed to hold himself that far. He was trying to lift one of his legs up onto the jetty. Carried reached forward again and grabbed his trouser belt. There was no time for being delicate about this. She hauled on his belt and Oscar managed to get one leg up on to the jetty and using that and his arm, help pull himself out of the water. He lay on the wood breathing heavily. He was shivering.

"Come on, I'll help you up," she said. She helped him on to his knees and then his feet. She was shocked when she saw his face. His lips were blue. She'd always thought that was just an expression. She'd never seen anyone so cold before. Pulling his arm over her shoulders, she helped him slowly shuffle along the jetty to the shore. This was going to take too long. He needed to get warmed up quickly.

Carrie pulled out her communicator. "Illya, you listening ?" she whispered.

"Yes, what's wrong," asked Illya sounding worried. They'd agreed radio silence except in an emergency, so Illya guessed this must be an emergency.

"Need help with Oscar urgently. Got to get him back to base," whispered Carrie.

"I'm coming," promised Illya.

They had made it a short way down the harbour wall when Carrie heard footsteps approaching ahead. She should have agreed a signal she thought. She had no idea who was coming. She was looking for somewhere to hide her and Oscar when she heard a soft whistling. She couldn't remember exactly what the tune was called, but she was pretty sure it was Russian. Breathing a sigh of relief she headed towards the footsteps. Illya almost walked into them. He muttered something under his breath, then grabbed Oscar's other arm and started hauling him along the harbour.

Illya helped Carrie load Oscar into the boat. He seemed to have stopped shivering and Carrie wasn't sure if this was good or bad.

It took them about 15 minutes to make it all the way back to base. Rose was waiting anxiously. She gasped in horror when they came in the door. Finally in some good light, Carrie and Illya looked at Oscar. His normally pale skin was a bluish white and his eyelids were drooping closed. "Blankets !" ordered Illya. Rose dashed to the sleeping quarters and returned with blankets still warm from the airing cupboard. Illya had seated Oscar on the floor, propped against one of the table legs and was stripping off his clothes. Carrie was just noticing the muscles on Oscars shoulders when Rose cleared her throat in embarrassment.

"Erm, shall we, erm," she said, pointing towards the living area.

"What ? Oh I think Oscar would like that," said Illya. "Can you find me a couple of towels too please Rose ?" Rose went off again and returned with the towels. Then she dashed into the living area, pulling Carrie along with her.

"Carrie," she hissed. "What are you doing ?"

"Well, it's not like he's not worth looking at," whispered Carrie. "Someone's been working out."

"Carrie, he's got hypothermia. I need to radio base for advice," said Rose, worried. She called up base and spoke to Frank. It sounded like she had woken him up. He sprang into life when she told him what had happened. He gave her a list of instructions and she started hunting out the necessary equipment.

Illya called for Carrie to help him move Oscar. When she went to help she found that Illya had dried Oscar off and wrapped him in the warm blankets. They half carried and half dragged his dead weight into the living area and put him on the sofa. He seemed to be barely conscious. Carrie turned up the heater. Rose appeared with a small collection of monitors and wires. "We need to read his temperature and monitor his heart beat," she explained. "I've got to send the signals back to base." She was also holding a small first aid manual.

They followed a diagram in the first aid manual to attach the heart monitor leads to Oscar's chest. While Rose connected these back to her radio equipment, Carrie and Illya took Oscar's temperature using a digital thermometer. She spoke again to Frank who gave her another list of instructions.

"Right. Oscar is hypothermic. His heart is straining to pump blood so he mustn't make any physical effort until Frank says it's alright. We have to get his body temperature up gradually. We have to try to keep him awake." gabbled Rose at top speed. Illya looked blank.

"You are speaking too quickly for me," he said.

"We have to warm him up slowly, keep him awake and make sure he doesn't try to get up until Frank says he can," said Carrie slowly.

"Oh, OK," said Illya relieved. "You wake him up. I will look for things for heat."

Carrie looked at Oscar who appeared to be half asleep. He looked quite peaceful and it seemed a shame to make him wake up, but she guessed he would forgive her if she was helping to save his life. She tried tapping his cheek and rubbing his wet hair, but this didn't seem to make any difference. Then she started clapping her hands loudly and calling, "Hey Oscar, come on, time to wake up !" That did the trick. Oscar's eyes flickered open and looked at her. "That's more like it. Listen carefully Oscar. You've got hypothermia. You can't go to sleep, otherwise you might not wake up, you get me ?" He didn't move, but his eyes stayed locked on Carrie's face.

"Well done Carrie. You'd better keep talking to him," said a relieved Rose. "We need to keep his attention."

Carrie hadn't taken her eyes off Oscar. She was determined to keep him focussed. "Hey, what were you thinking jumping into that water ? Hiding behind a crate is just so old fashioned isn't it ? I guess you won't be doing that again in a hurry right ?" Again there was no response, but Oscar's gaze was still fixed on her face.

Illya came back. "I have found these," he said holding four hot water bottles. "I have put the hot water inside. I will wrap them round him." He wrapped the rubber bottles in towels and then tucked them inside Oscar's blankets. He pulled out one of Oscar's arms in the process so Carrie took hold of his hand and began rubbing it. It was icy to the touch and rubbing it made her shiver. She gritted her teeth and kept it up, all the time still talking to Oscar.

They carried on taking his temperature and changing the hot water bottles over the next hour. Rose kept track of his temperature and speaking to Frank. Once his temperature had raised by one whole degree he started shivering. Rose was worried and went to speak to Frank again.

"It's OK. He's getting better now he's able to shiver again," she explained to the others. "We have to get his temperature up another degree and keep him lying down still. Carrie's hands were now cold from holding Oscar's for so long. She was warming them on one of the hot water bottles when she noticed a look of pain on Oscar's face.

"What's the matter Oscar," Carrie asked. He moved his hand. It had changed from a pale bluish colour to a more purple colour. Carrie looked questioningly at Rose who went to the radio.

"Frank says it will be very painful when the blood starts flowing through his extremities again. He also suggests warming his legs to encourage blood flow to his feet now that his core body temperature is improved," explained Rose. Illya moved a couple of the hot water bottles.

Another hour later, Oscar's temperature had almost returned to normal. He was still shivering, but was moving about more. He rubbed his hands together and the blanket slipped off sideways a little, exposing his chest and waist. Horrified he realised he had no clothes on. He grabbed the blankets and pulled them tightly over himself.

Illya laughed out loud, partly in relief. "It's OK. You nearly died of the cold, but you really don't want to embarrass the ladies," he said.

Oscar look mortified. "Yyyyou d d didn't take my c c clothes off d d did you ?" he asked Carrie.

"No ! Illya did it. We had to go into the other room," said Carrie folding her arms and pretending to be upset. "I didn't get a decent look at all !"

Oscar looked satisfied. He then tried to get up off the sofa. Illya and Carrie both firmly pushed him back down. "Oh no you don't," said Carrie. "Not until Frank says you can."

Rose checked that the heart monitor leads were still properly attached. Only this time she had to bat off Oscar's interfering hands. She took his temperature again and went to speak to Frank.

"Oscar, Frank says you're to get complete rest for the next 24 hours. Your heart has taken a huge strain due to the hypothermia and he says you need to take the time to recover properly."

"No way," said Oscar. "I'm not lying around here," Carrie interrupted him.

"With no clothes on," she joked.

Oscar frowned at her. "I'm not lying around here doing nothing while you are all off getting into trouble," he suddenly stopped talking because Rose had stuck a needle into his arm and was injecting something. "What's that ?" he asked.

"Frank guessed that you might not be willing to rest so he told me to give you some sedative to make sure you get a good rest," she explained. "Sorry Oscar, but you have to get complete rest. We'll manage, don't worry. We've got Illya to look after us haven't we ?" she said gently stroking his hair.

Oscar now couldn't keep his eyes open. Slowly he felt himself slipping into a fog of his own. He couldn't protest any more and was shortly fast asleep. Illya, Carrie and Rose between them managed to lug him into the bedroom and stick him in his sleeping bag. Illya stuck in a couple of hot water bottles just to make sure he was warm. The three stood and looked at one another. The relief was obvious on everyone's face. Carrie suddenly remembered something.

"Oh, I've got something for you Rose. I completely forgot about it," said Carrie, and she went to fetch the small metal box from her rucksack.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters I have borrowed from M. . I do own Illya and Aggie Madison.

"_Oh, I've got something for you Rose. I completely forgot about it," said Carrie, and she went to fetch the small metal box from her rucksack._

"Carrie, you found one intact !" exclaimed Rose. Oscar forgotten, she rushed to her workbench. Illya followed. Carried turned back to the sleeping Oscar and making sure the others weren't looking, kissed him on the cheek.

"Don't worry Oscar. We still care about you. We'll have it all sorted out by the time you wake up !" she whispered. "You can have dinner and then drive us home if you like." She quietly shut the door and went to join the other two.

"Carrie, did you find this down at the harbour ?" asked Illya.

"Yes, Oscar and I were searching when I heard footsteps. I hid behind some crates and when I lay down flat I saw that box underneath one of the pallets. You wouldn't be able to see it unless you lay on the ground. Oscar was out on the jetty and had nowhere to hide except underneath the jetty in the water. Poor Oscar !" said Carrie.

"Did you see the person you were hiding from ?" asked Illya.

"Not very well, because of the fog," explained Carrie. "He was really tall. He walked up and down where I was hiding and then he walked out on to the jetty where Oscar was hiding. He made all the wooden planks creak. I think he must have been very heavy. Oscar didn't make a sound on them."

"Where did he go ?" asked Illya, curious.

"Well, that's the weird thing," said Carrie. "He walked off a little way down the harbour and I heard a heavy door opening and closing. Oscar and I had searched the harbour and tried all the doors, but they were all shut fast and we couldn't open any of them."

"There must be some sort of entrance down on the harbour," suggested Illya. "How are you getting on Rose ?" he asked.

Rose had put the metal box inside an inflated bag and was using gloves built into the bag to work on the box. "It looks like it's sealed," she said. As she fiddled with it, the surface of the box suddenly started bubbling and Rose quickly dropped it. A pale greyish gas started to pour out of the box. Rose grabbed another piece of equipment and attached it to a connector on the bag. She sampled some of the gas and started typing commands into the computer. "Right, that should get us some results," she said. After a minute results started pouring across the computer screen. They crowded round to see what it said.

As far as Carrie was concerned it was complete gobbledygook. There were graphs with lines shooting up and down and bar charts and lists of chemicals. "OK, I understand nothing," said Illya.

"You and me both," said Carrie.

Rose was now searching databases and running other tests. Finally, she looked satisfied. "Got it. Should have guessed," she said, leaning back and resting her hands behind her head. There was a pause.

"Rose. Are you going to tell us or not ?" asked Carrie.

"Oh. The gas is carrying a hallucinogenic drug," said Rose. "The way in which people react to the drug varies from person to person. Basically, it makes people see all kinds of scary stuff that isn't really there."

"Wouldn't people notice lots of little gas bottles going off all around them though ?" asked Carrie.

"The lady in the shop said that it was a misty day," remembered Illya. "People would not notice it in the fog. That must be why they chose that day for the test."

Rose picked up what was left of the metal box. There was nothing now except the empty box again. The whole lid had disappeared. "The trigger mechanism must disintegrate with the box lid," said Rose. "That's really clever. I've never seen anything like it."

They called Frank and updated him on their results. "Well done team," he said. "I assume Oscar is out of action for the next 24 hours ?"

"Yes, I gave him the sedative you told me to," said Rose. "He's fast asleep in his bed."

"Good," said Frank. "You have Illya as your translator, and I don't think we can afford to waste any time. I need you three to investigate the entrance that Carrie found. Try to get inside and find out who is behind these chemical weapons tests. Be careful ! There's nobody nearby to rescue you if you get caught, so I want you to report to me every hour on the hour, understand ?" Rose promised that they would report in every hour.

It was still only mid-afternoon and it was still foggy so they decided it was the ideal time to begin their investigation. The three kitted themselves out and set off in the boat for the harbour. Carrie wanted to leave a note for Oscar, but Rose said they would be back before he woke up.

They moored the boat once again and set off up the harbour road. Carrie kept them well away from the harbour's edge. She didn't want to end up in the water like Oscar. They scanned all of the doors they passed but found nothing until they reached a really old rickety wooden door in one of the smaller sheds. Rose scanned the door and found that it was metal and not wood. "There must be something to open it with," she said. The all hunted around the door and the frame of the building, but couldn't find anything. Frustrated, Carrie leaned her shoulder against the building next door. The beam she was leaning against shifted and made her stagger back. She pushed harder and the wooden door started to open by itself.

"Ta da !" said Carrie.

"Very good," smiled Illya. "Come on."

"Wait a minute," said Rose. "I need to update Frank." She radioed in and told Frank they had managed to open the harbour door. Frank told them to carry on and repeated his warning to be careful.

The three looked around and then cautiously entered the door. It closed behind them and they were momentarily in the dark. Then a light came on and they found themselves in a short corridor at the top of a long flight of stairs. They set off down the stairs. At the bottom was another large metal door with a circular wheel on it, like the kind you got in submarines and ships. Illya turned the wheel and the door swung open. They stepped through one at a time until they were standing in a darkened room. The door slammed shut behind them and as the lights came on, they were each grabbed from behind.

"Well, look what the cat brought in," said a deep voice. Carrie looked around and up at a huge man. She decided he had to be the guy she first saw on the harbourside. "We wondered when you were going to show up," he said. One at a time they each had their rucksacks and equipment taken away, their hands tied and they were marched through the room they were in and through lots of other corridors. "You must be Oscar Dixon-Halliday," said the man to Illya. Illya didn't say anything. "The boss has been looking forward to seeing you," said the man. "It'll be just like old times," he laughed. It wasn't a nice laugh.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters I have borrowed from M. . I do own Illya and Aggie Madison.

"_Well, look what the cat brought in," said a deep voice. Carrie looked around and up at a huge man. She decided he had to be the guy she first saw on the harbourside. "We wondered when you were going to show up," he said. One at a time they each had their rucksacks and equipment taken away, their hands tied and they were marched through the room they were in and through lots of other corridors. "You must be Oscar Dixon-Halliday," said the man to Illya. Illya didn't say anything. "The boss has been looking forward to seeing you," said the man. "It'll be just like old times," he laughed. It wasn't a nice laugh._

Carrie realised that the villains didn't have any way of knowing there were four of them. They expected three so when they found three, they assumed that Illya must be Oscar. The two boys did look sort of similar. They were both quite tall for their age and blonde. After walking for what seemed like miles in the underground tunnels they were pushed into a room off one corridor. Rose and Carrie gasped as the person standing ahead turned to face them.

"Well, if it isn't my three favourite teen spies !" smiled Jade Dixon-Halliday. The smile instantly left her face when she looked at Illya. "What is the meaning of this ?" she shouted, pointing at Illya.

"The three kids we were looking for," said the giant sounding puzzled.

"This," said Jade flicking her finger under Illya's chin, "This is not my son !" Illya looked startled. "Who are you boy ?" she demanded. Illya didn't answer. She slapped him hard across the face. "Where is Oscar ?" she snapped.

"He isn't here," said Rose. Illya looked across at her and frowned. "There's no point Illya," she said. "Illya came with us because Oscar doesn't speak Norwegian and Illya does," she explained. "We needed a language expert."

"How did you get here ?" demanded Jade.

"By boat like everyone else," said Rose. Jade smiled her snake-like smile.

"Well, well, and what do MI9 know about our little operation," asked Jade walking up and down in front of them.

"We know you've been carrying out chemical weapons tests on the people here," said Rose angrily. "You could have killed someone !"

Illya thought how cute Rose looked when she was angry.

Carrie noticed Illya looking at Rose. Well, well, Rose had another admirer. Carrie mentally shook herself and tried to focus. This could be a really short relationship. They were in deep trouble here. They were also deep in something else. They'd walked through a lot of underground tunnels. She couldn't believe that SKUL had dug them all themselves. She looked around at the room they were in. Jade noticed her looking.

"I see you are admiring our accommodation," she said. "I wish we could take credit, but we are just borrowing them temporarily. These tunnels were dug for weapons testing by the Nazis during the second world war. They knew how to build a good tunnel system. You really have to admire them don't you ?" she asked Carrie.

"Not really, no," said Carrie. "They killed millions of people."

"No matter. You're not going anywhere," said Jade. Looking at Rose she said, "Since you're so concerned about the welfare of our test subjects, perhaps you would like to volunteer. Oh, you already have, haven't you ?" she laughed evilly. "Lock them up in the cells !" she ordered. They were dragged out of the room and taken further down the corridor. All three of them were shoved into a cell with thick metal bars on the door. The giant slammed the door shut, locked it with a large key and walked away with the other SKUL guards.

"Are you alright Illya ?" asked Rose.

"You should not have told her anything," complained Illya.

"Don't be ridiculous," scolded Rose. "She knows who we are and what we do. There was no point in keeping your name secret."

"Is she really Oscar's mother ?" asked Illya in disbelief. "He never said anything about her."

"Are you surprised ?" asked Carrie. "If your Mum was a top agent for an evil criminal organisation would you go around telling everyone ?"

"I guess not," said Illya. "Oscar told me he was on his own and you were his only family."

The two girls were silent at this. They had told Oscar in the past they they were like family for him but it was quite sweet to hear he had said so himself.

"She wouldn't hurt Oscar though would she ?" asked Illya, uncertainly.

"Don't you believe it," said Carrie. "She'd happily hit Oscar just as hard as she hit you. I've seen her punch and kick him in the stomach in a fight. She's angry with him because he won't join SKUL with her. I think she's been trying to punish him ever since. Oscar lives in hiding from her and SKUL. He's been moved loads of times to keep him safe and he hates it. I think he doesn't bother making friends with people any more because he's afraid he'll lose them. You're the only person I've known him make friends with outside the team."

"This explains things," said Illya thoughtfully.

"Anyway, how did you end up becoming a spy ?" asked Rose.

"It is a long story," said Illya.

"In case you haven't noticed, we have plenty of time," said Rose.

"It is not an exciting story. I was taken from an orphanage when I was 10 years old and I was trained to be a spy," said Illya. "I didn't get any choice."

"Now you've lost everyone too," said Rose quietly.

"I did not lose anyone I cared about," said Illya. "What I have now is much better. Oscar is my friend. He can speak to me in Russian. You are my friends and I like my new job much better. Nobody tells me to kill anyone. I don't want that," he said, looking darkly at the wall.

There was a moments silence and then Carrie said quietly, "What do you think she meant about us volunteering ?"

"I have a bad feeling we are going to be the next test subjects for their gas experiments," said Rose grimly. The others made no comment.

"How long will it be before you know who wakes up ?" whispered Carrie, looking down the corridor to see how far away the guards were.

Rose looked at her watch. "At least another 12 hours. We are going to have to look after ourselves."

"So, we are locked up in an underground prison with an evil mad-woman who wants to test chemical weapons on us," said Illya.

"That's about it," said Carrie. "Look on the bright side though."

"What bright side ?" asked Rose disbelievingly.

"I'm thinking," said Carrie. "You might have to give me a minute."


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters I have borrowed from M. . I do own Illya and Aggie Madison.

"_So, we are locked up in an underground prison with an evil mad-woman who wants to test chemical weapons on us," said Illya. _

"_That's about it," said Carrie. "Look on the bright side though."_

"_What bright side ?" asked Rose disbelievingly. _

"_I'm thinking," said Carrie. "You might have to give me a minute."_

Oscar's eyes flickered open and shut again. He felt so sleepy. He rolled over and felt something squashy at his stomach. He realised he was in his sleeping bag. For a moment he couldn't remember why. He struggled to get his arms free and pulled out a hot water bottle. What was that doing there ? He found another one at his feet and pulled that out too. A wave of dizziness came over him and he sank back on to the bed for a minute. Unzipping the sleeping bag he realised he was wrapped in blankets too. He started pulling them off when he realised he was naked and pulled them back around his body. He struggled to remember what had happened. Hiding in the icy water. Cold. Rose with a hypodermic needle. Then it all came rushing back.

He leapt up and ran out into the living area. It was empty. The light on the communications console was flashing. He walked over and picked up the headset. It was Frank. "Thank goodness, Oscar. I was beginning to think Rose had given you too much sedative. We've got a big problem. I've lost the others."

"What do you mean ?" asked Oscar, still struggling to get a grip on what was going on.

"Oscar, I need to explain everything to you, but I want you to do a couple of things first," instructed Frank.

"What's that ?" asked Oscar.

"I want you to have a good meal," said Frank. "I need you fully functional before we start. You've got a big job ahead of you."

Oscar was about to protest then decided not to bother. He was absolutely ravenous and really thirsty. A meal sounded like a good idea. A shower wouldn't hurt either. He had a strange sea-weedy smell on him again.

Half an hour later, Oscar was back in the headset, holding a cup of hot coffee. Frank explained that he had lost contact with the team after they went to investigate an access door to some underground tunnels leading from the harbour area. Oscar was all set to rush off and follow when Frank stopped him.

"Oscar, it's obvious that the others walked into a trap. There is no point in sending you into the same trap. If we are to have any chance of rescuing them, we have to find another way in," instructed Frank.

"OK," said Oscar reluctantly. "The door that Carrie and I found might lead to the same tunnels, but I would have to cut through or blow the door off somehow. We don't know where all these tunnels are."

"Luckily, that's where you're wrong," said Frank. "As soon as I realised I had lost contact with the team, I got busy. I knew you didn't stand a chance there on your own so I did some investigations of my own. Apparently those tunnels were dug out during the second world war by the Nazis when Norway was occupied. They wanted a remote location to carry out some tests of their own. Luckily the records were captured by the Allies when Norway was liberated. The tunnels were supposed to have been sealed up and kept secret. Obviously some criminal organisation has gained access to them. The good news is, that I have the plans for the whole tunnel system. I have digitised them and sent them to you."

Oscar looked on the computer. He opened the file which Frank had sent. There was a plan of a complex set of overlapping underground tunnels. He whistled softly to himself. "These are massive Frank ! Even with a map, I'm going to have trouble finding anyone," said Oscar.

"Yes, well, I've had a few hours to study them," said Frank. "Look on Level B, towards the south. There's a group of rooms marked 'Gefängnis'."

"Prison," translated Oscar.

"Yes," said Frank. He realised, that this would have been a much easier job with Oscar around. An hour and a half with Babelfish was a lot harder. Still, at least they were one step ahead now. "It's the only one marked on the plan. It has to be where they would be holding the team."

"That's great," agreed Oscar. "It still doesn't solve the problem of how I'm going to get in though."

"No," agreed Frank. "It just tells you where to go. I think I've worked out where that door was that you found. It's on the Eastern side at Level A. It's marked.."

"Notausgang," interrupted Oscar.

"Yes, exactly, 'emergency exit'," said Frank. "What I'm really interested in though is on the West side at Level F."

Oscar tried to trace what Frank was referring to. Then he found it and grinned, "u-Boot-Station. Submarine Dock. Frank you're a genius ! Where's the entrance ?"

"I think I've found the coordinates for you," answered Frank. "The entrance is underwater, obviously. Now, we don't know if the entrance is still accessible, or if the dock is usable. You will be taking a big risk by attempting it. I'm hoping the tunnels were made for the large German U-boats, in which case the mini-sub will have no trouble navigating its way through, assuming the tunnels haven't collapsed, obviously.

"OK, let's do it," said Oscar.

"Oscar, it's really dangerous," warned Frank.

"I know. It's probably just as dangerous as the situation the rest of the team is in though isn't it ?" asked Oscar.

"Well, yes. I wouldn't ask you otherwise," said Frank. "There's one more thing you need to know," said Frank, sounding strangely reluctant.

"What ?" asked Oscar, warily.

"We informed the Norwegian government of what the team found out. They are planning an attack on the underground complex in five hours time. The have given us that much time to evacuate the team. They won't give us any more," warned Frank. "I'm sorry Oscar."

"Never mind. What do you think I should take ?" asked Oscar. Frank sent him a kit list. It was huge. "Frank, I can't carry all this stuff," said Oscar. "Cut it down to the essentials."

"Good point," agreed Frank. He cut it down and sent it again. Oscar had already gathered some of the things that he thought would be most useful. Unlike on Frank's list, he had included some high energy food bars. The others might not have had anything to eat in the last 24 hours. Carrie would probably be chewing her own arm off by now. He also put in a spare spy-pod. If he got separated from the others, they would need a second map to find their way out.

Loaded with gear, he said Goodbye to Frank and set off for the mini-sub. Using the underwater communicator invented by Frank on one of their previous missions, he let him know he was setting off. "Let me know when you're about to enter the tunnels," asked Frank. "The communicator won't work through solid rock, so once you're in, you won't be able to communicate with me." Oscar promised he would make contact.

It was quite tricky getting the mini-sub out of the dock without someone else to help. Oscar had to keep dodging between the controls and the periscope. He did eventually manage it though and headed for where Frank had located the tunnel entrance. After some searching, he found it. "Frank, I've found the underwater entrance," Oscar reported. "I'm going in."

"Good luck Oscar," said Frank. Communication closed, Oscar slowly took the mini-sub into the underwater tunnel. Frank sat at his desk in the half light, put his head in his hands and slowly ran his fingers through his hair. There was nothing else he could do now.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters I have borrowed from M. . I do own Illya and Aggie Madison.

"_Good luck Oscar," said Frank. Communication closed, Oscar slowly took the mini-sub into the underwater tunnel. Frank sat at his desk in the half light, put his head in his hands and slowly ran his fingers through his hair. There was nothing else he could do now._

Rose had inspected all of the metalwork covering one wall of their cell at least twice, but could find no weaknesses. Dejected she sat with Carrie and Illya. She checked her watch. Oscar would not be waking up for hours yet. Even when he did wake up, nobody knew where they were. If he tried to get through the same entrance as them, he would just get caught too. She hoped he didn't try it. Frank wouldn't let him.

They sat there alone for hours. Finally, they heard footsteps. Jade, accompanied by five guards appeared from round the corner. "Forgive the delay. We've had to make a few adjustments to our test facilities," she said, smiling nastily. "I think we're all ready for you now." She gestured to the guards and the three were bundled out of the cell and marched down the corridors.

Eventually they arrived at a larger open area. In the centre of the room was a large glass box, roughly the size of a small bathroom, with pipes attached leading to pieces of equipment and further pipework leading up to the ceiling. At the front of the glass box was an entranceway with two separate doors, an inner one and an outer one. It must be some kind of airlock.

Rose looked at the glass box and licked her lips nervously. This was obviously where they were planning to test their gasses. She looked over to the side of the room where a table was laid out with a line of the small metal boxes they had found lying around in the village. On the other side of the room were two large computer screens and a keyboard. There was a long board by the entrance to the room with a row of gas masks hanging from hooks.

Jade stood and looked across the three of them. "These two, in the test room !" she ordered, pointing at Illya and Carrie. "It'll be fun watching the two of you beating each other unconscious !" she laughed. Illya and Carrie struggled, but it was no use. They were each forced through the airlock doors and into the glass chamber.

"What do you want me to do with this one ?" asked the guard holding Rose's arms.

"Just tie her to a chair," said Jade dismissively. The guard looked around with a blank expression on his face. SKUL guards were not selected for brains and initiative. He spotted a chair in front of the computer console and pushed Rose over there. She was securely tied, by her hands and round her waist to the wheely chair. He then left her and walked over to where Jade was standing. Realising nobody was watching her, Rose started to study what was displayed on the computer screens. It appeared to be the command screen for operating the gas test chamber. Rose smiled grimly to herself. Time to turn the tables a little in their favour.

A man in a white coat came into the room and started speaking to Jade. He then came over to the computers and found Rose tied to his chair. "Is it really necessary to tie prisoners to my chair ?" he asked annoyed.

"Just get on with it Doctor," snapped Jade. The man looked nervous, seemed to shrink a couple of inches, and turned to the computer screens. He typed in a sequence of commands into a script on the screen and then left it to walk over to the table of gas samples.

"Which one do you want to try this time ?" asked the Doctor.

"Anything that generates paranoia and some violence, I think would do the trick," Jade said, smiling nastily at Carrie and Illya. They looked blank, because they could hardly hear what Jade was saying through the thick glass. She looked disappointed at their lack of response.

"Oh well, come and have a look," suggested the Doctor. "I've altered some of the formulations." He and Jade walked over to the desk on the other side of the room. Rose looked around and all eyes were on Jade and the Doctor. This was her chance.

Rose quietly pushed her chair closer to the desk. Checking again that nobody was watching, she used her mouth to work the mouse. She selected a couple of the commands and swapped them round. She used her nose to alter some of the letters on one of the others. It only took her a few seconds. Sitting back up, she checked again that nobody was watching. It looked like she had got away with it. Gently she pulled away from the desk again. The chair squeaked and one of the guards looked round. She pretended to be shifting her position on the chair to cover the movement. The guard looked away again. Phew !

Jade and the Doctor had made their choice and everyone turned round from the far desk. "Right, we'll use this one," said the Doctor. He handed it to the dimmest looking guard. "Place this inside the chamber," he instructed. The guard looked at it doubtfully.

"Now !" order Jade. The guard quickly walked to the chamber door. He stepped inside the airlock, opened the inner door, quickly tossed the metal box inside and slammed the door shut again. Illya and Carrie jumped back from the box. The guard jumped out of the airlock as quickly as he could.

"Don't be so clumsy," complained the Doctor. "You could break the airlock or set off the gas container by mistake." The guard looked sulky and went to stand by the gas samples. "Let's run the test. If you're ready Colonel ?" he nervously asked Jade.

She just smiled her horrible smile. "I'm more than ready Doctor," she said. She turned, folded her arms and looked expectantly at the glass chamber. The Doctor came over the computer console and without looking closely at the text on the screen, typed the command to run the script. He turned to watch the chamber. Illya and Carrie looked nervously at one another.

Firstly the machinery around the chamber started to hum. The Doctor frowned. "That's not supposed to happen yet," he muttered. Then the gas canister inside the chamber started to bubble and release gas. Carrie and Illya stepped as far back in the chamber as they could from the box. Rose could see misty gas pouring from the box. She crossed her fingers, hoping that her plan would work. Suddenly the machinery roared and she could see that all of the gas was being sucked out into one of the ventilation tubes. None of the gas seemed to be reaching the two agents. They looked at each other, puzzled. Rose grinned at them and winked. Illya noticed and spoke into Carrie's ear. Carrie looked directly at Rose who smiled again. Carrie grinned back.

One of the guards cleared his throat, "Erm, Colonel ?" he said.

"Not now. Can't you see I'm busy ?" she snapped.

"No, really, you need to look," said the guard nervously. Annoyed, Jade turned to look and gasped. All of the gas containers on the side table were bubbling and starting to release gas. The Doctor also looked over.

"Gas ! Gas !" he yelled and dashed over to the gas masks. Realising what was happening, all of the guards and Jade followed suit. "Run the emergency procedure," shouted the Doctor. "Everyone out !" and they all ran out of the room. A set of doors were sliding shut across the entrance. Illya and Carrie realised that they were now safe, but Rose wasn't. They looked across at the billowing gas cloud at the side of the room. Illya banged on the glass door of the airlock.

Rose pushed herself on her chair across the room to the glass chamber door. She again used her nose to push the buttons on the outside. The outer door opened, but not the inner. There was a button marked "Override" higher up. She couldn't reach it with her nose. She kicked her leg up in the air as high as she could and kicked the button. The inner door opened. Illya and Carrie rushed out. "Get the gas masks on," shouted Rose. They ran for the far wall and grabbed two each. Pulling on one each they raced back to Rose. Illya made it first and shoved a gas mask over Rose's head. He was just in time. The gas cloud had now spread halfway across the room. They tightened the straps as tightly as they could.

Carrie got to work freeing Rose. The noise of the fans was now muffled through the gas masks. Illya pointed towards the glass chamber. The extractor fans were so strong that with the doors open, they were slowly sucking all of the gas from the room and out through the ventilation tubes. Rose was finally free. She stood up and the three high-fived each other. Illya shouted through his mask that they should look for a way out. The others nodded and started to search for another exit. There was no other entrance though and disappointed the three sat down against the wall and waited.

After about fifteen minutes it looked like the room was clear of gas. There was no sign of movement at the door however. They sat and waited for another couple of hours before the door slowly opened. The Doctor came in holding some kind of sensor device. He saw the three agents sitting in their gas masks and called the guards in. Jade followed, looking furious. She ordered the three to be taken back to the cells. Their gas masks were ripped off and the three were marched out of the room and back to their cells. As Rose left the room she saw the Doctor taking off his mask and sitting to look at the command console.

In a few minutes the three agents were back in their cell on their own. "Rose, you star !" exclaimed Carrie quietly, hugging Rose.

"You are proper clever girl," said Illya admiringly. He also gave Rose a huge hug. Rose blushed and couldn't help smiling. It was nice to be appreciated.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters I have borrowed from M. . I do own Illya and Aggie Madison.

_In a few minutes the three agents were back in their cell on their own. "Rose, you star !" exclaimed Carrie quietly, hugging Rose._

"_You are proper clever girl," said Illya admiringly. He also gave Rose a huge hug. Rose blushed and couldn't help smiling. It was nice to be appreciated. _

Oscar was sweating with the tension of driving the mini-sub through the underwater tunnels. He was using the sonar and looking through the port holes to try to keep the sub in the centre of the tunnel. Luckily it was quite large, but less luckily there were large pieces of rock lying on the bottom where they had apparently broken away from the roof. He wanted to drive as slowly as possible, but had to keep up some speed to be able to steer it properly. He breathed a huge sigh of relief when he saw the walls disappear on either side and the sonar indicated a large space of water ahead. He checked his depth gauge, but it wasn't giving a steady reading. He was going to have to play it by ear.

Slowly he let the sub rise, until it suddenly bobbed and he saw the surface of the water splashing past the portholes. He raised the periscope, but the chamber he was in was completely dark. This was good and bad news. The good news was that it was probably not in use by the new occupiers of the complex. The bad news of course was that he couldn't see where he was going. He tried to direct the sub's headlights to the side to try and find a dock to moor against. There was no way he was going swimming again !

Moving the sub slowly across the water, Oscar started to get a feel for how large this underground submarine dock must be. A wall loomed into view. He slowed and reversed the engines, trying to line the sub up against the wall. As the sub gently scraped along the side of the wall, Oscar gently whistled, hoping the sub could take it. Once he stopped the engines, Oscar put on a head torch and opened up the hatch. He looked around and found that the sub didn't reach very far up the wall. Either the sea level had dropped or the dock was built for much bigger submarines than Frank's. There was a metal ladder attached to the dock wall part way down the sub's side. Oscar dipped back into the sub and pulled out his rucksack. He also tied a belt with further equipment round his waist.

Closing the hatch he carefully put on his rucksack and picked his way along the hull of the sub to the metal ladder. He tested his weight carefully on the ladder. It had to be over 50 years old. It must have rusted badly in this environment. He breathed a sigh of relief as the ladder appeared to be strong enough. He climbed on to the dockside and gasped in amazement. The dock was huge. There were three huge bays like the one he was using. They were all big enough to take a full-sized naval submarine. The roof was high and any noise he made echoed around the chamber. He started looking for a door.

At the end of the dock, up a set of wide stairs was a metal door. There was a circular wheel attached, like the kind you found on ships and submarines. He tried to turn it but it was obviously rusted shut. He pulled off his rucksack and removed a small device from a plastic bag full of them. Replacing the bag and shutting his rucksack, he placed the device against the side of the door. He stepped back well out of the way and whistled loudly. The device exploded and the door jumped out slightly. Running back, Oscar pulled on the door wheel. This time he was able to pull the door open. It took all his strength to open it wide enough to squeeze through. He tried to close it again, but gave up. It might be better anyway to have an open door if they were in a hurry on the way back.

The corridor beyond the dock was also in darkness. Oscar consulted his map on the spy-pod and set off in what he thought had to be the right direction. He could feel the darkness closing in around him and it made him tense. He tried to focus his eyes on the beam of his torch. He needed to find another entrance which should be on his left according to the plans on the spy-pod. Oscar kicked himself for not counting his paces. At least he would have some idea how far he had come. It was completely disorientating in the darkness and he had no idea how far he had walked. Luckily, his torch finally picked up the shadow of another circular door wheel sticking out from the wall.

Oscar checked his plans. He needed the first door on the left. He hoped he hadn't accidentally passed another one. Again the wheel was rusted up. He took another small explosive out of his rucksack and set it on the door's side. It exploded, but the door didn't open. Worried, Oscar took another explosive out of his bag and set it on the door. He counted how many charges he had left and had a quick count of the doors he would have to get through. He hoped he wouldn't have to blast his way through every single one, because he didn't have enough explosives. The second charge went off and this time the door fell open. He pulled it a little further and slipped through into the bottom of a stair well. Result. This must be the right door. He started climbing.

This time Oscar was counting. He needed Level B for the prison cells. He'd started on Level F so that meant he need to go four floors up. Breathing heavily, he arrived at the right door. He took the spy-pod and attempted to scan through the door. It wouldn't penetrate. Instead he laid his ear against the door and listened. He couldn't hear anything. Carefully he tried the door wheel. It moved a little. Oscar really hoped he could open it without explosives. He didn't want to bring the villains running if he could avoid it. It took all his strength, but he finally managed to turn the wheel until he heard the lock click. He carefully pulled on the door and light shone through from the other side. Oscar turned off his head torch and cautiously peered through the gap he had opened. As expected, there was a corridor on the other side and it was empty.

He stepped through the door and swung it closed behind him. The cells should be on another corridor round the corner. He silently ran to the end of the corridor and looked round the corner. He ducked back when he saw a guard sitting on a chair looking at his hand and another walking towards him. Oscar listened carefully. The new guard spoke to the first in English. "Oi, you lazy oaf. You're supposed to be on guard duty you stupid ape, not sitting around reading."

"All right, all right, keep you hair on," complained the sitting guard. "Who you expecting down here anyway ? Her Majesty the Queen ?"

"No, but if the Colonel turns up she'll have your guts for garters idiot," said the second guard. Reluctantly the first guard stood up and pocketed the device he had been holding. "What you playing on that ?" asked the second guard curiously peering at the device.

"Rat on a Snowboard," answered the first guard showing the second one the screen. They were both peering at the screen and Oscar spotted his chance. He quickly put on his gas mask and pulled a round cylinder off his equipment belt. Darting out, he pressed a button on the end and rolled the cylinder down the corridor. It landed right at the feet of the guards unnoticed. Suddenly it went off, hissing gas all around them.

"What the .. ?" shouted the second guard before he and the first guard collapsed to the floor. Oscar ran down the corridor and turned the corner to find a set of cell doors. In a second he was standing outside the cell of Carrie, Rose and Illya. They jumped up smiling. Oscar tossed three gas masks to them.

"Here, put these on quickly," he said, his voice slightly muffled. He took out the laser cutter and started working on the door lock.

"Are you feeling alright now Oscar ?" asked Carrie, through her gas mask.

"Yeah I'm fine thanks," he said, looking up and smiling. She couldn't see his mouth, but his eyes smiled. He was so different from his Mum. Her eyes never smiled.

He finally managed to cut through the locking mechanism and Illya swung the door open. Carrie dashed to the end of the cell block and looked down the corridor. It looked like nobody had noticed the commotion yet. She went back as Oscar was handing things out amongst them. He gave Illya another head torch. He gave Rose the spare spy-pod and showed her the plans to the complex. He gave Carrie some small grenades which she tucked into her pockets. Then he handed each of them a couple of energy bars.

"Oh Oscar, you know me too well. I'm absolutely starving," said Carrie, tearing into the wrapper. They were all very hungry and quickly ate through the bars. Meanwhile Oscar kept an eye on the corridor. When they were ready he came back and explained how the complex was laid out, according to the plans.

"I came in through the submarine dock down here," he explained. "We need to get there quickly. The Norwegian army are going to storm this base in about two hours time. We only have until then to get out of here. It's completely deserted down there as far as I can tell."

"Oscar, there's something we need to do first," said Rose. "We need to destroy as much of those gas weapons as we can. I think I know where they must be stored. I've worked out where they were carrying out the gas tests on us."

Oscar looked horrified. "They carried out tests on you ? Are you alright ?"

"Oh, it's alright," said Carrie airily. "They tried to carry out a test on me and Illya, but Rose sabotaged the equipment and it all went totally pear shaped. It was fantastic," she laughed. "Your Mum was hopping mad though," she added. Then she saw the look on Oscar's face.

"My Mum's here ?" he asked.

"Erm, yeah. Looks like she's running the show as usual," said Carrie, looking down at the floor.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters I have borrowed from M. . I do own Illya and Aggie Madison.

"_Oh, it's alright," said Carrie airily. "They tried to carry out a test on me and Illya, but Rose sabotaged the equipment and it all went totally pear shaped. It was fantastic," she laughed. "Your Mum was hopping mad though," she added. Then she saw the look on Oscar's face. _

"_My Mum's here ?" he asked._

"_Erm, yeah. Looks like she's running the show as usual," said Carrie, looking down at the floor._

"Well, if you want to destroy these gas bombs we need to do it quickly," said Oscar after a short pause. "It won't be long before these guards are found and we don't want to be trapped in here if the Norwegian army starts to storm the base. Frank only got agreement for a few hours. They won't hold off if we're not out on time."

"OK. Let's get on with it then," said Rose. "I think they must be around here," she said, pointing on the plans to the area around where the gas tests were held. "There are going to be more people around though." She looked at the others who all nodded grimly. "Keep your gas masks on," she instructed. "We might need them."

They moved out along the corridor in the direction of the gas testing room. As they neared the area they could hear voices. They ducked into the entrance of a room just as the Doctor and two of the guards went past. "There's no point in arguing with the Colonel," the scientist was saying. "We need to repair the equipment ready for more tests. I need those supplies bringing down from stores. If that takes you off guard duty, that's just bad luck." Grumbling, the two stony faced guards followed him up the corridor, away from the testing area.

"That's a bit of luck," said Rose. "Let's find those gas containers quickly !" They divided up and started searching.

"Hey, Rose !" hissed Carrie, leaning out of one of the nearby doorways. "Found them." The others dashed over to look. Sure enough, there was a room with piles of the little metal boxes laid out. Sets of lids with little electronic devices attached were also piled up, alongside chemical containers and gas cylinders.

"Right," said Oscar. "I don't have a lot of explosives left, so we need to use it effectively. Where shall we put them Rose ?" he asked. Rose looked around and pointed out the best places to lay the explosives so that they would cause the most damage. "I'll put them on a timer so we have enough time to get out of here," said Oscar. Oscar and Rose laid out the charges while the other two kept watch outside. They finished setting them up with the timer controls giving them 10 minutes to escape. "Now, let's get out of here," said Oscar.

Oscar and Rose were shutting the door of the storage room, when Carrie came racing back from the end of the corridor. "We've got to get out of here !" she called, just as two figures rounded the corner and stopped, looking at the four agents.

"And where do you think you're going ?" asked Jade Dixon-Halliday. "Why Oscar, how lovely to see you. I thought you weren't coming." Her tone of voice was so cold it made Oscar shiver. He noticed Illya didn't look too pleased either. He also had a bruise on the side of his face. Oscar put two and two together. She just had to destroy everything he cared about: his friends, his job, his whole life was constantly being trashed by this woman.

"Run !" hissed Carrie. They turned and set off back towards the prison area with Jade and her giant sidekick in pursuit. As luck would have it, the prison guards chose this moment to wake up. As the group rounded the last corner they came face to face with two really angry prison guards.

"There they are. Get em !" yelled one of the guards. Rose ran straight into one and he tried to knock her over. Illya ran at the guard and karate-kicked him off her. Rose shot a quick smile of thanks to Illya and looked to the others. Oscar and Carrie between them were finishing off the other guard. They set off again, but the damage had been done. Jade and the giant SKUL thug had now caught them up. Jade reached out and grabbed at Oscar's rucksack, pulling him backwards so he lost his balance and fell. He tried to roll out of her reach, but she managed to kick him in the stomach before he could get out of the way. Gasping for breath Oscar rolled to the wall and pushed himself back upright.

The giant grabbed hold of Rose's hair and dragged her to a halt. She yelled out in pain. Illya and Carrie instantly turned to go to her aid. They laid into the man, but his sheer size made it nearly impossible to get a hard hit. Rose yanked her hair out of his grip and the three then turned on him. This seemed to tip the scales slightly in their favour. He was backing off slightly when they heard a series of explosions going off where they had just come from. Their explosives had detonated. The man looked back and Illya managed to get a kick to his head. He staggered and Carrie got in another which finished him off. Quickly they took belts from the two guards and tied his arms and legs together.

Carrie looked up just in time to see Jade landing a huge kick to Oscar's face as he stood leaning against the wall, trying to fend her off. He screamed in pain, and fell to the floor. Furious, Carrie launched herself at the gloating Jade, knocking her sideways into the wall. Carrie rained blows down on the older woman, knocking her unconscious.

"Carrie, that's enough !" said Rose. She stopped, gasping for breath. Carrie looked over to Oscar who was sitting on the floor with blood streaming from his nose and a cut lip. She thought his nose looked broken. Then they all heard a couple of massive explosions, somewhere above their heads. The floor shook. "That must be the army," said Rose. "We've got to get out, and we can't go back up to the surface. We have to get out in the mini-sub." She looked at Oscar. His eyes were out of focus and he was obviously in a lot of pain. As gently as she could, she knelt down and took hold of Oscar's shoulders. "Oscar. We need you now. You have to focus for us. Can you look at me ?"

Oscar struggled to gather himself. He finally managed to focus on Rose's worried face. "I'm, I'm OK," he whispered. Illya and Carrie helped him to his feet. "The door," he whispered, pointing down the corridor. Rose looked and saw a dark crack running down the wall a few metres away.

"I see it Oscar. Come on !" she said to the others. Rose took his rucksack so that Illya and Carrie could support him. He didn't seem to be able to keep his balance. It was hardly surprising considering the way Jade had kicked his head. She should do something to stem the blood flow, but they really didn't have time.

They opened the door and on the other side was darkness. Rose studied the plans while Illya put on his head torch. Oscar reached out a shaky hand and pointed to where they were on the plans. He seemed to be getting a little steadier although his nose was still bleeding heavily. Rose searched in Oscar's rucksack and found his head torch. She put it on and led the way down the stairs. She slid out through the open door at the bottom of the stairs and into the long dark corridor. It took the others a little longer to get through. Finally they squeezed through the open door into the huge submarine dock.

"Wow !" Illya could not believe the size of the place. "This is huge." He muttered something in Russian. Oscar replied, also in Russian. Oscar pulled himself up and pointed to where the mini-sub was docked. He walked down the dock unaided.

"Ladder not very strong," whispered Oscar. "One person, OK ?" The others nodded. Oscar was going to go first, when Illya gently pulled him back.

"Me first Oscar. I can help you OK ?" Oscar let him go down. Once Illya had found his footing on the sub, Oscar started down the ladder. He tried to concentrate on getting his hands and feet on the rungs. His head was splitting and the pain from his nose was unbelievable. He just had to keep going. It wasn't serious. Just some cuts and bruises. Finally he reached the bottom of the ladder and Illya guided his feet on to the sub. Carefully he transferred his weight. No point falling in the water now.

Illya helped Oscar open the sub's hatch and then Oscar climbed carefully down the ladder to get the sub ready to go. Meanwhile, Carrie had been coming down the ladder. She followed Oscar into the sub and Rose climbed down. Illya helped her on board and watched her going down the ladder. He took one last look at the huge underground structure, sighed and followed the others down the ladder into the sub. He pulled the hatch shut behind him and sealed it.

Oscar had taken the driving seat and was readying the sub's systems. He carefully backed the sub out of its bay and slowly turned it. They could hear distant bangs and the sub vibrated a little. Oscar let the sub slowly dive and he put the headlights on full to find the entrance to the tunnel. He'd headed off in what he thought was the right direction, but it wasn't easy to remember now. Suddenly the sub rocked to the side as something large shot past them in the water.

"What was that ?" asked Carrie frightened. Oscar didn't budge. It was taking all his energy and concentration trying to find the entrance. Something a bit smaller clanged off the side of the sub. Rose, Carrie and Illya dashed to the porthole, trying to see what was happening outside.

"I think pieces of rock are falling down from the roof of the dock," said Rose. "The explosions on the higher levels must be loosening them." She was frightened. It would only take one large piece of rock to completely destroy the mini-sub. They all looked to Oscar. He was shifting his gaze between the front porthole and the sonar screen.

"Got it !" he whispered. He'd found the entrance. He decided there was no time for being careful. He drove the sub into the entrance hard. It scraped one side a little, but they were only just inside when rocks and debris fell behind them, cutting off the entrance completely. Oscar just concentrated on getting through the tunnel without hitting anything. There was no knowing when the tunnel might collapse around them. There was no point in worrying about it. He just had to keep going. There seemed to be more rocks on the bottom of the tunnel than before. He had no option except to go slowly because there were so many obstacles in his way now. After what seemed like hours, he finally saw the dim green light of the sea entrance up ahead. There was nothing in the way now. He put the engine on full and dashed straight for the entrance. They shot out of the tunnel as small pieces of rock started to rain down on the subs surface. The tail was barely out of the tunnel when they heard a rumbling which reverberated around the sub.

Silently they all looked at one another. Carrie went over to Oscar, wrapped her arms round his shoulders and pressed her cheek to his bloody one. "Thanks Oscar. You couldn't have done any better for us," said Carrie. She could feel him shaking a little. She guessed he was entitled to some nerves after that near disaster.

Rose helped Oscar as best she could to navigate across the bay to their base. He seemed to be OK provided he sat bolt upright. If he leant over in any direction, one of them would have to catch him as he started to topple over.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters I have borrowed from M. . I do own Illya and Aggie Madison. I love online translation tools. Takk.

_Silently they all looked at one another. Carrie went over to Oscar, wrapped her arms round his shoulders and pressed her cheek to his bloody one. "Thanks Oscar. You couldn't have done any better for us," said Carrie. She could feel him shaking a little. She guessed he was entitled to some nerves after that near disaster._

Rose helped Oscar as best she could to navigate across the bay to their base. He seemed to be OK provided he sat bolt upright. If he leant over in any direction, one of them would have to catch him as he started to topple over.

Eventually they made it back and Oscar managed to dock the mini-sub on his first attempt. Rose helped him to shut all of the systems down and Illya went up to open the hatch. "Erm, guys, we have company," they heard him say. They heard other voices shouting instructions in Norwegian. Illya answered, but they continued to repeat their instructions. "We have to all get out," he called down. "I will go first. Make sure Oscar isn't last OK ?" Rose and Carrie assured him they'd see Oscar out safely.

Rose followed Illya out and found herself faced with three soldiers pointing machine guns at them. Illya was standing to one side on the dock with his hands in the air. The soldier nearest Rose shouted an instruction at her. "He wants you to put your hands in the air," explained Illya. Rose quickly stuck her hands in the air, then realised she needed them to get off the sub's hull. Hesitantly she lowered them to grab the ladder at the side. Shaking a little she joined Illya and put her hands back up.

Next up was Oscar. He looked terrible, but managed to look even more shocked when he saw the soldiers. One of the soldiers muttered something under his breath when he saw the state of Oscar. The front of his jacket now had streaks of blood covering it. Carrie was behind him, helping him find his foot holds. He slowly climbed out of the hatch. He was shakily reaching for the ladder onto the jetty by the time Carrie jumped out of the hatch. As Oscar reached the wooden boards the first soldier shouted something at him, Oscar didn't understand and looked confused. The man grabbed his shoulder and shoved him against the wall of the boat-house. His head hit against the wood and he staggered and nearly fell.

"Oscar !" shouted Carrie, frightened for him. One of the other soldiers put down his gun and caught Oscar under his arms, holding him up. He snapped at the first soldier who pointed at Oscar's equipment belt. He unclipped the belt and threw it to the side. Carrie had now joined Oscar on the boarding. She moved to take Oscar's arm, but the second soldier motioned her to join the others. He picked up his gun and slung Oscar's arm over his shoulder, then gave an instruction to the others. They motioned with their guns for the agents to go up the hill towards the cabin. Glancing back at Oscar they made their way up the hill.

Once in the cabin, the soldiers motioned Rose, Carrie and Illya to sit on the sofa. Two soldiers took up positions opposite them, their guns resting against their knees. The lead soldier sat Oscar down at a chair by the table. He then left the cabin and they could hear talking outside. Rose asked Illya if he could understand them, but he said he couldn't make out what was being said. One of the soldiers spoke. "He's told us to be quiet," explained Illya. Rose nodded and looked over to Oscar who was swaying a little in his chair.

After a short while, another uniformed man came into the room. He took off a rucksack and pulled up a chair in front of Oscar. Oscar looked at him nervously, but resigned. The man looked puzzled and spoke to the soldier who had taken charge. The soldier shrugged and pointed to Illya. He motioned Illya to come over. There was a brief conversation between them. Then Illya smiled and spoke to Oscar.

"Oscar, don't be scared. It's OK. This guy is the medic. He's come to treat your injuries," explained Illya. Oscar visibly relaxed in his chair. The medic pointed to the chair next to him for Illya, who sat down. "He wants me to translate for you," explained Illya. After a further instruction from the medic, Illya got up and helped Oscar out of his bloody jacket. The medic opened up his backpack and took out some sterile dressings and swabs. He put on a pair of rubber gloves. He told Illya to get a small towel from the kitchen area and wrap it round the front of Oscar's shoulders. Blood was still dripping from his nose.

Using the water from a spray bottle and the sterile swabs the medic gently cleaned up Oscar's face. He had a big cut on his lip which had swollen and his nose was visibly bent in the middle. You could now see a heel shaped bruise on his left cheek. Two enormous black eyes were starting to develop. The medic explained something to Illya who translated for Oscar. "He is going to inject a local anaesthetic into your face so he can stitch up your lip," he explained. Illya screwed up his face as the medic injected Oscar near his mouth. The medic smiled at Oscar and said something. "He says you are much braver than your friend. Hey !" complained Illya. Oscar's lips moved a little, but obviously hurt too much to smile properly.

Satisfied that it was numb, the medic carefully stitched Oscars lip, inside and out. Then he turned his attention to Oscar's nose. He asked him a question. "The medic says you have a broken nose. He wants to know if you would like him to set it for you now, or if you would rather wait to go to hospital to have it done ?" Illya translated.

"Now please," mumbled Oscar. It was hard to speak with a numb, swollen lip. He just wanted to get it over with. Illya looked at him sympathetically and translated for the medic. The medic then asked him to do something. Illya looked horrified, muttered something and looked down at his feet. He was visibly upset. The medic then called over the lead soldier and explained something to him. The man nodded and walked round to the back of Oscar's chair.

Illya took a deep breath to steady his nerves and told Oscar what was going to happen. "You need a few injections to ease the pain," explained Illya. "The other guy is going to hold your head still so the medic can get the injections in accurately. OK ?" Oscar nodded slightly. The medic produced another syringe, the soldier took hold of either side of Oscar's head and tilted it back slightly. The medic stood up and injected the anaesthetic around Oscar's nose. Oscar closed his eyes and Carrie could see him gripping on to the arms of his chair. The medic spoke and Oscar opened his eyes. The pain in his nose was receding a little. He looked at Illya and laughed. Illya had covered his eyes with his hands. He was now peeking through his fingers. The medic looked at Illya and rolled his eyes.

He took out some dressings and tape, and nodded to the soldier behind Oscar. The soldier took hold of Oscar's head and watched the medic's face. The medic started to feel round Oscar's nose. Oscar could see his fingers, but couldn't feel his touch. Maybe this wasn't going to hurt so much after all. Then the medic gripped his nose and Oscar grunted in pain. The soldier tightened his grip around his head. Oscar gripped the arms of his chair again. Suddenly the medic pushed his nose around and into position. Oscar groaned at the shooting pain and he felt tears running from his eyes. Then the medic was speaking and strapping a dressing over his nose. "Over," said the soldier letting go of his head.

Oscar opened his eyes, which were still watering. The medic gently wiped them for him using a clean dressing. He smiled at him and nodded towards Illya. Illya had buried his face in his knees with his arms wrapped around his head. The medic said something and laughed. Illya's muffled voice said, "I heard that." He raised his head and looked straight at Oscar's swollen, battered face. He looked quickly away and tried to wipe a tear from his eye before Oscar noticed. The medic reached out and squeezed Illya's shoulder. He said something in Norwegian to Illya and smiled. He said, "A good friend should care too much."

"Takk," mumbled Oscar to the medic.

"You are welcome !" replied the medic. He packed up his gear and counted out some tablets into a small container. He gave Illya a label and pen and told him what to write. He then stuck the label on to the container and gave it to Oscar.

"They're painkillers," explained Illya. "They will help the swelling go down too."

"Thanks Illya. It was better with you there," said Oscar quietly.

The soldier motioned the two boys to join the others on the sofa. The girls made a space for Oscar to sit. Illya sat in the armchair to the side. He looked nearly as shaky as Oscar by now. Rose reached across, clasped his hand and let go. "You did really well Illya," she said.

"I hope I never meet Oscar's mother again. I don't think I could go through that again," said Illya. Rose and Carrie had to laugh. Even Oscar laughed, although it sounded quite strange since he could hardly move his face. Carrie fetched him a glass of water so he could take some painkillers. The leading soldier came in and told Illya something.

"Who's coming," asked Oscar, understanding some of what was said.

"He said our boss is coming," said Illya. "Any idea which boss ?"

"I hope it's Frank," said Rose.

"Yeah. Please don't let it be Stark," said Carrie.

The door flew open and in walked Chief Agent Stark. All four of them groaned. The soldiers guarding them smirked.


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters I have borrowed from M. . I do own Illya and Aggie Madison. Last chapter. If you liked these two stories, I'll have another go. I would like to read other peoples' stories too though.

"_He said our boss is coming," said Illya. "Any idea which boss ?"_

"_I hope it's Frank," said Rose. _

"_Yeah. Please don't let it be Stark," said Carrie._

_The door flew open and in walked Chief Agent Stark. All four of them groaned. The soldiers guarding them smirked._

"Chief Agent Stark. How did you get here ?" asked Carrie as Stark was opening his mouth to speak.

"We flew here, obviously," said Stark, annoyed.

"Where's Frank ?" asked Rose.

"I've sent Agent London to check on the submarine and make sure you kids haven't broken anything," snarled Stark, sarcastically. He looked at Oscar. "What on earth have you been doing ?" he asked.

Rose couldn't believe how Stark managed to make it sound like it was Oscar's fault he'd got beaten up on a mission. Stark stepped towards Oscar and one of the soldiers lifted his gun towards him, like he was protecting Oscar. Stark hesitated.

"For heavens sake. You're supposed to be protecting them from SKUL, not from MI9," he complained. The soldier just looked at him in stony silence. He didn't lower the gun. He couldn't understand what the chief agent was saying, but he could understand the tone of voice.

Rose and the others noticed the soldiers' contempt for Stark. You had to admit, Stark really had a way with people.

"Agent Gordovski would you please explain to these men who I am," demanded Stark.

Illya sighed and spoke in Norwegian to the soldiers. "This is Chief Agent Stark from MI9, and you're right, he is a complete prat," explained Illya. The three soldiers in the room smothered laughs. A few seconds later, so did Oscar.

At this point the door burst open again and Frank charged in, looking upset. "Team, oh thank goodness. I was just inspecting the mini-sub and there's blood everywhere. Are you all alright ?" he asked anxiously. He looked across each of them in turn and they all seemed OK apart from Oscar. "Oscar, are you alright ? What happened ?" The soldiers made no attempt to stop Frank from approaching Oscar.

"Jade was there. She kicked Oscar in the face when we were fighting," explained Carrie. "She didn't look so pretty when I finished with her either," she said grimly.

Frank looked a little shocked at Carrie's tone, but seemed relieved to see them all in one piece. He turned to Stark. "The Chief of Operations from the Norwegian Special Forces is coming in a minute. He speaks fluent English, so I thought it would be simplest to debrief the agents when he gets here." Stark didn't look pleased, but then he never looked pleased.

The door opened and all the Norwegian soldiers stood to attention. This had to be the big man. He gave an instruction to the soldiers and they relaxed slightly, but not too much. "Hello, I am General Gustavson," said the man briskly. "So, you are the secret agents who have helped to destroy this underground rat's nest," said the General. He looked a little doubtfully at the four teenagers. His eyes flicked across to Oscar and said, "I hope our doctor has made you feel better ?"

Oscar said thanks he was feeling a lot better.

"Before we start the debrief, I would like to know your names please ?" requested the General. The four teenagers introduced themselves, and when the General looked questioningly at Frank, so did he, explaining that he was the group's handler.

The team then went over their activities from the day they arrived: the search of the village, the tests on the gas canisters and the discovery down at the harbour. All three of the men looked horrified when Rose, Illya and Carrie told them about the sabotaged gas test with them as the test subjects. The General asked how they knew Jade Dixon-Halliday and Frank explained so that Oscar wouldn't have to. Oscar was looking hard at the floor by this time.

Then it was Oscar's turn to describe how he got into the underground base using the submarine. It was difficult and painful to speak still, so it took him a while and he cut out as much detail as he could. The General wanted to know more about the underground docks, so Oscar tried to describe it as well as he could. Rose took over the explanation once they had reached the part where they were freed from the cell. She described how they set out to destroy the chemical weapons. The General wanted a lot of detail on this so Rose did her best to describe how they had set out the charges and used some of the chemicals to create more damage. The General looked impressed.

Rose told of how they heard the large explosions from above them and how they were caught by Jade and her henchman. When she explained how Oscar steered the submarine through the falling rocks in the underground submarine base, the General raised his eyebrows. "He did this with a broken nose ?" he asked. Rose just shrugged her shoulders. The General also wanted to know more about the escape tunnel they used. Oscar perked up a little. He had looked as if he was about to fall asleep.

"I think the whole tunnel collapsed," he said. "Pieces were falling from the roof all the way through. There was a massive rock fall just as we pulled out of the entrance and I think it was blocked. I wasn't really on top of the situation though, so it might be worth making sure," he added. Then he laid back his head on the sofa again and closed his eyes.

Oscar didn't see the look the General gave him. It was half amusement and half respect. The General turned to the two senior agents. He noticed that Frank was looking at his team in a very proud way. Chief Agent Stark was looking grumpy as if he had just been upstaged and didn't like it. He spoke to Frank. "You can be very proud of your team Agent London. They have carried out their mission with great courage and dedication. My soldiers are presently searching for survivors and when that work is completed, we shall make sure that the rest of the underground complex is destroyed beyond use." He turned to the teen agents. "Thankyou all, and well done." He nodded to them and left, followed closely by Chief Agent Stark.

"Yes, well done team," said Frank. He paused because he could hear a strange rumbling noise. "What's that noise ?" he asked.

Carrie looked over at Oscar. He was asleep. "Oscar's snoring," she whispered, smiling. "I think his nose is a bit, you know, bunged."

"Oh, of course," whispered Frank. "You must all be starving. Why don't we get you some food ?" The others all realised how hungry they were and got up to make something. Frank's attention was diverted by one of the labelled packing cases. "Little boxes and stuff ?" he said, puzzled.

"Oh yeah. That was one of mine," giggled Carrie. "Come on Frank, let's have some dinner," she said quietly. They were just sitting down to the table to eat when Chief Agent Stark burst back in.

"Shh !" said Carrie, pointing at the now loudly snoring Oscar.

"Don't .." spluttered Stark.

"Shh !" hissed Frank, Carrie, Rose and Illya. Stark looked furious, hopping up and down on his toes. Then he abruptly turned and went out of the door, banging it behind him. The Norwegian guards were laughing out loud. Oscar woke up looking startled. The soldiers started to apologise, but Illya told them it was fine. He was laughing too.

"Do you think you can eat anything Oscar ?" asked Frank.

Oscar scratched his head. "Mmm not sure," he said.

"How about soup ?" suggested Rose. Oscar agreed and she warmed some soup through for him. They sat down together and everyone demolished their food. Oscar did his best getting some soup into his mouth. Quite a bit dribbled out. His lip wasn't so numb now, but was still very swollen and awkward. He looked down at his shirt. There were soup stains between the blood stains. He tried flicking some off, but it was no use and he gave up.

"How are we going to get the mini-sub back," he asked. He looked tired and worried.

Frank realised that Oscar thought he was going to have to drive the mini-sub home again. "It's alright Oscar," he assured him. "I'm going to take the sub back. You and the others are going to fly home, just as soon as the Norwegians are happy that everything is in order. All you need to do is pack up your own personal stuff and get ready to go." Oscar looked relieved.

They all cleared up after their meal and tried to tidy the cabin a little. Oscar changed his shirt and Illya helped him find all his stuff and pack his bag. He would have carried Oscar's bag for him, if he would have let him. Oscar insisted on carrying his own bag, even though he had to struggle with it all the way to the helicopter which was waiting. The helicopter flew them to a small airport where a plane was waiting. Oscar had fallen asleep again when they arrived. Illya had to help him up from his seat because he was unsteady on his feet.

Carrie and Rose in front saw Stark standing waiting for them at the plane and their hearts sank. "Right, in here all of you !" ordered Stark.

Carried leaned over and shouted over the noise of the engines into Rose's ear, "This guy really doesn't have enough to do, does he ?" Rose laughed, and turned to see how the boys were getting on. Illya was struggling to hold up Oscar and carry both of their bags. Rose nudged Carrie and the two went back to help. They took the bags and let Illya concentrate on keeping Oscar going in the right direction.

Once on board they found themselves standing in the business section at the front of the plane. They were shocked to hear lots of voices behind the curtains. "Is this plane full of tourists ?" asked Rose. "We can't go back there, especially with Oscar looking like that !"

"You're not going into the Economy section," said Stark, looking annoyed. "You lot are staying in the front. The Norwegian government have booked out the whole Business section for you. It's their little thankyou."

"Ooh. That's quite a nice thankyou," said Carrie, looking round at the luxurious seats. "And Oscar can have a lie down."

"Exactly," said Stark. "The General insisted that Agent Cole should at least have a comfortable trip home, given his current, erm, condition."

A tall, beautiful, blonde air stewardess came out and asked them to take a seat ready for takeoff. She helped Oscar into his seat, and he looked embarrassed when she did up his seatbelt for him. Rose and Carrie noticed how Illya and Chief Agent Stark were following every move the stewardess made. They looked at each other and giggled. Rose leaned across to Carrie and whispered in her ear, "Are you jealous ?"

"Definitely !" said Carrie, laughing. "Apart from Stark of course," she hurriedly added. The two of them were still laughing as the plane took off.

Once they were in the air, the cabin crew made a huge fuss of them. Rose wondered what they had been told. She was quite jealous of the attention the two boys were getting. It was hard to feel mad at Oscar when his face looked like it had been run over by a herd of elephants. He looked so tired, he obviously just wanted to go to sleep. The stewardesses put his seat down flat for him so he could lie down. Then they arrived with extra pillows to prop his head up and blankets. He pulled his shoes off and lay down on his least bruised side gratefully. He looked a bit startled when the stewardess then tucked a couple of blankets round him like he was a little child. Finally comfortable, he went out like a light.

One of the stewards started supplying Rose and Carrie with drinks and food and it was Illya's turn to get jealous. Rose was seriously cute, he had decided. He wondered how long his probation was going to last. He wondered if he would get to stay with the team if he dragged it out for a while. He liked living in Oscar's house. Oscar would speak Russian with him, which made him feel at home. He liked spending time with Rose and Carrie. Rose was cute and smart, and Carrie was great fun and much smarter than she gave herself credit for. Frank was cool. Stark was an idiot, but nothing was perfect.

Much too soon, they landed and were separated. Rose and Carrie were taken home. Oscar was taken to hospital for an X-ray of his face, and Illya opted to go with him. Their stay was extended when the staff discovered the huge bruise on Oscar's stomach from where his mother first kicked him. Finally he was allowed to go home, with more pain killers.

The front door was opened by Aggie and Oscar's guardian, Simon. "Blimey Oscar. You been kick-boxing with your mother again ?" joked Simon. They went in and life once again settled down to what counted as normal for spies.

The End.


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